Welcome to Gaia
by Rayna Lissesul
Summary: She had never wanted this; she hardly knew the game itself. But, when HE came and took something dear from her, she really had no choice but to follow him to get it back. Now, all she can do is press forward and hope she finds him before time runs out.
1. Matters of an Occupational Kind

Because I love my readers so much (and I know that several of them will get this on their Author Alert), I have decided to start posting this story! And, if you haven't read my other stories, please do. I hope you enjoy.

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day. (Is it just me, or is this disclaimer seem familiar? …Probably just me.)

(Matters of an Occupational Kind)

Isn't it funny how some things turn out for us when we're growing up and getting ready to cross the threshold from the teen years to adulthood?

One minute you're in your eighth grade year, entertaining thoughts of becoming an astronaut, and then BAM!!, you're taking college prep courses in high school and the occupation of being a worker in a cannery isn't looking too bad…

At least there's less studying in that field than there is in being an astronaut.

WOOT!! TEN LESS YEARS OF COLLEGE! WORKFORCE, HERE I COME!

…Unfortunately, there are some who know right off that a job at the cannery isn't an option. They decide their occupation in the sixth grade and stick to it, doing all the appropriate research in their spare time and then going to sleep at night having nightmares about the equations and extensive words that they'll have to memorize to try to get a perfect score on the SAT or ACT.

It's these people that everyone in high school feels will go off to succeed. We're talking that we expect to see them on the list of the 'Most Fascinating Persons of Fill in a Year Here', or the major participants in the upcoming presidential elections, or something equally big and flashy.

There was a time when I considered myself one of those people.

For me, I was looking forward to a successful job in the area neurological science. Woot! Brains!

Though I wasn't sure which specific job I wanted, I knew that I wanted it to be in that general locale. I had actually told my parents about it when I was seven, and it just kind of stuck.

Just before I started high school, I started to research which classes I would need to take. I even took a few peeks at possible colleges.

Freshman through junior years went smoothly and, being born early in the year, I was beginning to entertain thoughts of graduating at nineteen and going onto college to study for about six or more years and earning big bucks, as well as leaving an important and long-lasting mark in the world. Nothing was going to stop me.

I stayed up late and studied; I pretty much gave up my social life and locked myself away; I had no time for games or extracurricular activities, so I quit my swim team and had my parents cancel my fencing lessons; I even lost a few friends and the respect of a couple of my teachers, who felt that I was taking things too far…

Then, near the middle of my senior year, something happened. I'm still not sure where it had come from or how long it had been hiding, but I had the oddest urge to drop my dreams of working in neurology and becoming a professional freelance writer.

… I know. Big transaction, huh?

It shocked me, but I brushed it off as a simple random urge brought about by my odd sleeping habits and all of the sugar and energy drinks I was consuming to help myself stay awake at night. But then it became scary: The urge wasn't going away.

When I should have been studying, I would snap out of dazes to find that I had been staring out my window and daydreaming of fantasy worlds. If only to humor myself and placate the feelings, I began to write little short stories in my spare time. Unfortunately, I became so wrapped up in writing that these 'sort stories' turned into hundred page mini-novels.

When I had written six of these novellas, I decided that I wasn't sleeping long enough or often enough, so I took a few weeks downtime and slept, devoting only the necessary time I needed to do my homework.

Then, when I went back to my study habits, I found that I was ready to quit studying completely and devote myself to writing a full-length novel. I had then stopped being scared and evolved to being downright frightened of myself.

But I found myself writing, anyway.

And it was this that led to something amazing… something fantastical… something wonderful… something romantic… something that would change my life and the lives of those I met forever…

But, I'm jumping ahead of myself. Allow me to begin in a more… timely position.

I suppose it really started that day, just before midterm…


	2. The Tale of Unwanted Destiny

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The Tale of Unwanted Destiny)

She walked through the front door and fell onto the carpet, making sure that her shoed feet stayed off of the carpet. Her winter jacket crinkled uncomfortably around her throat, but she didn't care enough at the moment to do something about it. She was bone tired.

After lying on the ground for about three and a half minutes, she rolled onto her back and kicked her shoes off, the thick boot-sneakers thudding to the river stone entranceway heavily. She then pushed herself into a sitting position and peeled off her thick winter coat and rose to her feet, leaving said jacket on the floor for a later time. She was just too lazy…

Suddenly, the television volume blared in the living room, a loud militaristic song booming through the house before someone turned the volume down to a level that could no longer be heard by the rest of the neighborhood. Raising a brow, she walked into the living room.

There, she found her little brother sitting on the ground, a game controller in his hands and his eyes fixated on the screen. She watched him silently for a moment, then walked over to the entertainment center and turned off the VCR, changing the screen from the game to some gardening channel.

She turned to find her brother looking at her in horror, his eyes wide and his jaw open so his chin touched his chest. "Wha…wha…wha…wha…"

"You're grounded, aren't you?" She asked with a smug grin, leaning against the TV. "Mom and Dad both agreed that you weren't supposed to be playing any games until you brought up your math grade…"

He snapped his jaw shut and glared at his sister, which was actually rather amusing coming from a ten year old with a pudding bowl haircut and a smudge of dirt on his right eyelid. "You just ruined four hours of solid playing! I'll never be able to get that back!"

"Wah, wah, wah." She mocked, crossing her eyes and making her hand act as a puppet, "My name is Marcus and I can't pass a multiplication test. I cry every night because my Mom makes me eat my vegetables, and no one knows that I still sleep with a stuffed kitten!"

"That is so not true!" Marcus screamed, jumping up and stomping his feet, "I've been eating my broccoli just fine! Even Mom said so!"

"Ah." She smirked, quirking a brow, "So you won't deny the accusation that you're still sleeping with Mr. Whiskers? Sad."

The boy gapped stupidly, making her smirk grow. When he saw this, he stomped his foot again and shouted, "I do not sleep with that stupid cat!" A light glaze came over his eyes. He was about to cry.

Now, all of this may make her out to be a bad person, but she really wasn't that cruel… at least not in that way. She just really wanted to get a rise out of him, was all. And, now she could tell she had gone a bit too far.

Letting her smirk turn into a kinder smile, she walked up to her little brother wrapped her arm around his shoulder, giving him a half hug. "Sorry, Marcus. I was just kidding. Really. I won't tell Mom you were playing the game. And, to make it up to you even more," She reached out and turned the VCR back on, at which the game popped back onto the screen, still at the same place it had been, "There's your game. You'd better get as much fun out of it as you can before Mom and Dad get home. I'll help you on your math later so you can catch up."

He looked up at her with wide eyes and a smile, "Really?"

She nodded, "Really." It was really kind of pathetic how easy it was to make up with him, and it almost made her sick sometimes. But, then again, he was her little brother…

After Marcus had plopped back down in front of the screen and started playing again, she walked over to the sofa and threw herself down on it, laying a hand over her face and sighing. It had been a really long day, and she was really tired from taking all of those…

"So, how did the SAT testing go?" Marcus's voice broke the silence and snapped her out of her quiet resting moment.

She groaned in reply, flipping onto her stomach and burying her face in a pillow. After a few moments of near suffocation, she turned her head to face Marcus and the TV, sighing again, "Same as usual; six hours of mindless testing, broken periodically by mediocre break periods and reinitiated by the droning of the proctors at the beginning of every new section. And that's just the Reasoning. I'm not even going to bother taking the Subject tests."

Marcus shrugged, "If it's so bad, why do you bother taking the SAT, anyway?"

She scowled darkly at the back of his head, "Try the fact that most colleges in the U.S., decent or no, require it as one of their entrance prerequisites. You don't take it, you can't get in."

Forgetting he was in the middle of a particularly difficult-looking battle, Marcus turned and gapped, "Really?!"

"Yes, really." She nodded, "Now, you might want to turn back to the game before Lost Number kills you."

Marcus paled and was jut turning back to the screen when Lost Number used one of its specials and completely annihilated his characters. The room was silent as the screen faded and switched to the 'Game Over' screen, some sad music playing.

"Noooooooo!!" Marcus dropped the controller and doubled over on the floor, clutching his head.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "That's what you get for leveling up for four hours inside the Shinra mansion and not leaving Nibelheim to save."

Still moaning, Marcus began to rake his fingers across the TV screen. "All of that time… all of that energy… wasted." He flopped onto the ground and shuddered, curling up into a ball.

"Oh, quit being a drama queen!" She growled, standing and walking over to him. Honestly, the time he spent crying over that stupid game…

"But Lost Number is so hard!" He moaned, rolling onto his back to look up at her, "I've been working on trying to beat him for five days!"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Then you must not be doing it right."

"My technique is flawless!" Marcus jumped to his feet and declared, forcing her to back away as he waved his arms foolishly. "It's just an impossible boss! It's like they never want you to get Vincent!"

"Whatever." She sighed. She then looked at the screen for a moment, ignoring her brother as his whining continued. She cut him off by saying, "Let me see the controller."

Marcus scoffed and sat up, looking at his sister with a skeptical eye, "What, you think you can beat it?"

She frowned, "Just give it to me."

He giggled, but handed her the controller, anyway. As she sat down, he pulled back and watched her closely, a smug smirk on his face that she could tell said 'My big sister? Playing a video game? Hah! She doesn't stand a chance.' …Little maggot.

Ignoring her brother's obvious doubt in her gaming abilities, she reloaded the game from the last save and opened to the world map, the little 'Cloud' character standing beside his little car and right in front of the little Nibelheim. She directed the character into the town, across the square, and into the Shinra mansion.

Inside of the mansion, she was faced with almost no monsters and was able to run right up to the safe. "Combination?"

"Right 36, Left 10, Right 59, Right 97." Marcus recited from memory, still grinning.

She rolled her eyes and entered the combination, smirking when she got it right the first time. She looked over to Marcus, grinning. "Ha."

His smirk just grew wider and he pointed to the screen. "Ha."

She looked at the screen just in time to see the Lost Number appear in all of its ugliness and horrible pixel resolution. She frowned when it pounded Tifa and reduced her health to almost zero. "Well… that was unexpected."

"Ready to give up yet?" Marcus teased.

She rolled her eyes, "As if, squirt. I'm just getting started." She got serious and buckled down, ready to take Lost Number down.

Though she hadn't really played the game, she had been watching Marcus play long enough to get the basic idea of how to battle. Fortunately, Marcus had been semi-tactical enough to put all of his summon materia into the slots on the weapons and armor, as well as the 'Restore' materia, which he had managed to level up to 'Cure2'. She frowned, though, when she noticed that he hadn't equipped an 'All' to any of his materia.

"Marcus, where is your 'All' materia?" She asked, forced to heal the characters one by one.

"Uhh," She heard her brother begin to reply, "The 'All' materia? Isn't that stuff… useless?"

She groaned, wincing as the characters took another hard hit, "Marcus, the 'All' materia is something you equipped to joined materia slots to make the magic apply to all of the people on the battle field, either on your side or the enemies. What did you think it was for?!"

"Easy money?"

"Marcus!" She yelled as another one of Lost Number's party-wide attacks hit the group. Turning back to the game, she healed the characters and set them to use summon materia, then turned back to her brother and glared at him, "Marcus, if you don't know what something is for you don't sell it. You research what it's for!"

Marcus laughed nervously, "Hehe, oops…"

She just growled and continued to fight, frowning when the Lost Number turned orange. "What on Earth…" She glanced at Marcus for an explanation.

He just shrugged, "I dunno. I never made it that far."

Frowning, she turned back to the TV just in time to see that the 'Shiva' materia wasn't do nearly as much damage as it had when it had been used it earlier. She shook her head and growled, "He's basically impervious to magic attacks, now…" Pinching the bridge of her nose, she and sighed, "Mêlée it is, then."

Though it took a while, as well as a whole lot of MP and Phoenix Downs, she pummeled the Lost Number into the dirt and earned a new summon materia, as well as the key to open the door to Vincent's little coffin room. After Vincent joined the group, she handed the controller back to Marcus and stood, walking out of the room. "I'm off to get some homework done. Good luck."

"Thanks, sis!"

Up the stairs and to the right, two doors down, she entered her room and turned on the lights, shutting the door. Across the bare room with white walls and white sheeted bed in the corner was her work desk. That was where she walked to. In her chair with a pencil in her hand and a blank sheet of paper spread out, she wrote. But not what she told her brother she would be writing. She began another story.

Though the tales were never excessively long or too convoluted, they still flowed and wound, contriving plots and worlds, characters and motives, beginnings and ends. For this particular story, she wrote in a different fashion. Rather than writing a story with a character birthed to greatness and wealth, she wrote of a character born to normalcy and lackluster life.

The character grew up in a world that held no adventure, for there was no adventure to be had other than moving into her own house and making a living with a job at the local grocery store. She was a good student who was bound by nature for great things, though they weren't epic things. But, though she had everything she needed to make herself an excellent member of her society, she didn't want any of it. She wanted adventure… she wanted an epic… she wanted fantasy.

If only something would happen to her. Something magical.

…If only.

About five lengthy pages later, she looked out of her window and blinked in surprise. She had written the rest of the day away. A glance at her clock told her it was eight thirty, and she sighed. Her parents would be home soon, and they would want to know about how she thought she had done on the SAT. It was something she didn't want to deal with.

Figuring that Marcus would come up to her room and ask for help if he really needed it, she took a bath and put on night clothes, crawling into bed.

She was just drifting off to sleep when something woke her and she sat straight up, looking around. It hadn't been a noise… and she hadn't seen anything through the window… so what was it? Frowning, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood, looking around. Then, she felt the something that had woken her again. This time, she could tell what it was.

There was a tingling sensation in the back of her head, kind of like what you feel when you lay down on a hard surface and the back of your head falls asleep. But this was slightly different… sharper… deeper… more distinct. She could actually feel where the sensation was located. She raised a hand to the back of her head to scratch whatever it was, but all her fingers met was scalp. The sensation was beneath her skull, in her brain.

Frowning, she shook her head, trying to get rid of it. A car passed her house, filling her window with its bright headlights for a few seconds. Those few seconds were enough for her to see the pages she had left on her desk. It was in that moment she was inspired to read what she had written, which would be interesting seeing as she hadn't really paid complete attention to what she had written; she had just done it.

The clock beside the papers read twelve forty-five, so she knew that her parents were already home and sleeping. Papers in hand, she returned to bed and flicked on her bedside lamp, the white-speckled blue lampshade giving the room the illusion of a bright, moonless sky. After making sure the papers were in order, she held the first page on her lap and began to ready.

_This is the story of a girl who was like any other._

_She had common brown hair,_

_common green eyes,_

_common clothes with tags that all said 'Made in Guatemala', or some other common country that made common clothes._

_She may have been a bit paler than most_

_and she may have been a bit better at taking tests, giving those around her the impression that she was smart._

She blinked.

She wrote that?

…This girl kinda sounded like…her…

_They believed she was destined to go places._

_She believed she was destined for an average life._

_They wanted her to change the world._

_She just wanted to live in a different world._

_They believed she would grow and die in this world, facing no obstacles that they hadn't._

_She wasn't sure what would happen in her future._

_They thought she would be there forever._

…_They were wrong._

She quirked a brow. "Huh?"

She vaguely smelled something burning, but figured it was just the heater. It always smelled like that when it turned on.

'Dad really needs to fix that…'

_This common girl was born under stars that held uncommon powers._

_This girl was destined for a journey she wasn't ready for._

…_But… then again… are we ever really prepared to face our destinies?_

_Are we ever ready for our callings?_

_Are we ever ready for the future?_

This time, the smell of burning was stronger. She dropped the pages and jumped to her feet, looking over at the door. Smoke was rising up from the cracks, curling around in thick tendrils. She ran over and grabbed the door handle, letting it go the second she touched it and cursing loudly. It was blistering hot.

_This girl, born in a common world yet holding an uncommon destiny, would never be able to fulfill her calling in the world in which she had grown._

_She was needed elsewhere._

She pressed her hands against the wood of the door, sinking to her knees in shock. The door was only marginally cooler than the doorknob. If she tried to open it… the flames would pour inside and incinerate her in moments.

_To fulfill her destiny, the girl would have to traverse time and space, going from her world to the world where she was needed._

_To fulfill her destiny, she would have to leave behind everyone she loved and everything she had ever worked for._

Panicking, she ran over to the window and looked out of it. Fire trucks had already arrived and her Mom and Dad were standing outside with them, looking up at their burning house in fear. They saw her and waved their arms wildly. One of the firefighters noticed and looked up at her window, shouting orders and pointing to her when he saw her.

She stepped back from the window and picked up the desk chair, bashing it against the window.

Shards of glass fell and glittered like droplets of flaming rain.

_But, the girl would not journey alone. With her, she would bring the most unexpected of company, and it would be for this company that she would risk her life and make important decisions._

She leaned out the window, ignoring the biting cold as the winter night nipped her skin and summoned goose pimples.

"Where's Marcus?!"

_The journey would be hard._

Her parents shook their heads and she felt her heart stopped. Her father shouted up, "They haven't gotten to his room yet! They've been trying, but the stairs collapsed!"

_There would be times when she would wish to quit._

A firefighter ran up to her window, reaching in to grab her. His walkie-talkie buzzed.  
"It's no use! Get the girl and get out!"

"What about my brother?!" She screamed at the walkie-talkie, as if it could give her an answer.

_But, no matter what, she would have to push on._

"We'll do everything we can!" The firefighter shouted back, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Right now, we need to get you out!"

"Like hell I'm leaving my brother!" She screamed, kicking back out of the man's grasp. She turned and ran.

_For, if she quits, the lives of herself and those around her would end, and the world she was meant to help save would be destroyed._

She ran into her bathroom, grabbing a bathrobe and as many towels as she could carry out of the cupboard, thanking whoever there was to thank that she had left water in the bathtub from her bath. After she ripped the bathrobe sash from the loops, she threw the clothes into the tub and soaked them.

_And if that world died…_

When the clothes were thoroughly soaked, she pulled them out and wrapped the towels around her waist, tying them with the robe sash before throwing the actual bathrobe over her shoulders. As a last minute thought, she jumped into the bathtub and sloshed around, making sure her body was soaked. She jumped back out and ran into her room.

The firefighter was still struggling to crawl through the window when she pressed a cold washcloth over her nose and opened the door.

He was still calling to her as she stepped into the inferno.

_Then her world…_

She ran through the hall, looking behind her to see if the firefighter was coming. Just as she stopped to look, there was an explosion. She covered her head, looking up only when the explosion had ended. The way back to her room was gone… She turned and ran on, throwing herself at Marcus's door when she got there, doing her best to ignore the flames that had already licked her legs dry.

_Would perish._

Just as she stumbled through Marcus's door, she was met with a sight that shocked her and stopped her dead. There was a tall man in the center of the room, with long silver hair and a long black cloak.

Marcus was unconscious and draped over the man's arm.

…_This is the story of a girl._

"Marcus!!"

_A girl with a destiny._

The man looked at her, green cat eyes flashing in the flames.

She shuddered in fear.

He smiled.

_A girl who would have greatness shoved upon her in the most violent of ways._

"Let him go!"

The man's smile only widened.

_A girl who was destined either to change the world… or perish in the throes that destiny forced upon her._

She watched in horror as the man reached into his coat. He pulled out a green, pulsating orb and held it above him.

She wanted to run at him, but his eyes froze her.

She could only watch as the light surrounded him.

_A girl who would face pain, anger, joy, success, love, failure, life, and death to complete her quest._

When the man started to disappear, she ran forward.

"MARCUS!!"

Marcus awoke with a jerk and looked at her, his eyes wide and fearful.

_And the name of that girl is…_

"ASTRID!!"

She jumped into the light as they disappeared…

Everything around her faded to white…

Everything was so warm…

She closed her eyes and fell into the abyss…

_And thus my journey began._


	3. Astrid Hates Cacti

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Astrid Hates Cacti)

Astrid would later wonder if anyone other than her had ever been bitch-slapped by a cactus.

She would have asked someone, but they probably only would have laughed at her.

But, for Astrid, it was a very real and painful thing. How would she know, you might ask? Well, let's start on her first day, on the island…

When Astrid first woke up, it was to a blinding sun, a clear blue sky, and the smell of the sea. When she rolled onto her side to turn away from the burning sun, Astrid rolled face first into hot sand and burned herself. When she jumped to her feet and looked around, Astrid found the endless sea before her and an endless desert to her back.

She was sill stunned when she heard an odd noise, which sounded a little like a sound a clown would use to emphasize a funny stunt he had performed. She looked to her right and found a tiny cactus beside her, the surf from the sea lapping at its roots.

Forgetting all about the comical noise she had just heard, Astrid walked over to the cactus and knelt down, prepared to dig it up and replant it. Hey, she may have woken up in an odd location, but she sure wasn't going to let an innocent tiny cactus die by consuming sea water until it wilted to nothing. Astrid would later guess that that was the first mistake she made in this new world.

Just as she was reaching for the roots of the cactus, the thing rounded on her and a blast of pain exploded in Astrid's left cheek. Stunned, she fell backwards onto her butt and started at the cactus in shock.

Astrid's shock turned to horror as the thing… opened a pair of beady black eyes and stared at her!! A little mouth then opened beneath the eyes in a black "O", and the thing tilted on one root… ur, leg.

The cactus and Astrid stared at each other for a moment, then the thing began to rock back and forth and make little comical noises, like 'Wub-wub-wub-wub-wub!'. Then, before she could blink, the thing jumped and slapped her again, this time in the other cheek! She was still stunned when it turned and began to… slide away.

Now, Astrid wouldn't usually be one to make stupid and irrational decisions, but when that freaking little cactus started to laugh as it ra—slid away, she wasn't about to let that pass.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE INGRATE!!" She screamed, jumping to her feet and running after the tiny cactus. Astrid hadn't even made it five steps when it disappeared into the dunes.

Knowing it was pointless to pursue a cactus into a desert, Astrid walked back to the sea and sat in the tide, looking at her face and wincing at what she saw. The cactus had left several spines in her face, though none of them felt like they had been buried in deep. Astrid reached up and grabbed one, gritting her teeth at the pain that had blossomed from just touching it.

Shoving the length of her thumb into her mouth, Astrid gripped the spine and yanked it out quickly, nearly breaking her thumb when she bit down on it. Pulling out the spine and hurt more than she thought, and she realized why when she looked down at the spine pinched between her fingers. The end of it was barbed, like the quills of a porcupine.

Astrid moaned and closed her eyes. 'This is going to take a while.'

About thirty minutes later, she was dunking her bleeding hand into the ocean and slapping the salt water on her face, hoping to keep the holes from getting infected. When the painful job was done, Astrid stood and looked down at herself, frowning at what she was wearing. She was still in her night clothes, towels tied around her waist with the sash of the bathrobe that she was wearing over everything. Astrid didn't have to look closely to see that the edges were burned, and when she took the robe off she found a hole had been charred clear through the back.

Sighing, Astrid untied all of the towels, which were still a bit damp, and threw them onto the ground, making a makeshift bed in the sand. Though she wasn't tired, she knew that it was stupid to travel around in a desert during the day. After she dunked one towel and the burnt bathrobe into the sea, Astrid flopped down onto the towels and pulled the towel/bathrobe over her head, falling into an exhausted sleep before she had a chance to lower her arms.


	4. Desert Dash and Revelations

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Desert Dash and Revelations)

If waking to being slapped by a cactus wasn't bad, Astrid's next wakeup call was, without a doubt. After all, how great is it to be woken by the screech of a helicopter hovering right above your head? Not great at all, to say the least. Especially when you've been burned by the sun, you're uncomfortably muggy, and the saltwater has pasted your hair into weird shapes that vaguely resemble 'modern art'.

Her eyes snapped open and she was on her feet in an instant, throwing herself forward to roll out from beneath the helicopter. Astrid watched with wide eyes as her robe and towels were sucked up into the blades, where they were torn to shreds. When the helicopter turned and the door on the side began to slide open, Astrid didn't wait to see who was inside. She ran… for about five seconds before a thought hit her, right between the eyes.

'Why am I running?...'

Astrid thought she heard several things drop into the sand behind her and she looked over her shoulder, then slowed to a walk and stopped, turning. She looked at the two dark figures beneath the helicopter for a split second before her attention was pulled back to the helicopter, which had turned to face her.

A small red light came from inside and shone at her, Astrid following the light as it worked its way up from her feet to her chest. There was a whirring beneath the helicopter, and one of the guns made a low, metallic clicking sound.

'…Well, there's a good reason.' She turned and started running again.

When she heard footfalls on the sand behind her, Astrid knew she was in trouble. There were people chasing her on foot, so she was covered by land. On top of that, there was a helicopter pulling up on her left to fly between herself and the sea, so she couldn't swim to freedom, either. The best choice would have been to stop and pray for mercy.

But Astrid was not that type of person.

In fact, when one of the people pursuing her called out, "Stop!", Astrid responded by raising her hand and flipping them the bird.

Surprisingly, the helicopter was the one that responded to this. It sped up and flew in front of her, gaining a few hundred meters ahead. Her lungs were beginning to burn and her calves cramp when two more people dropped from the helicopter. Pulling to a stop so quickly the sand sprayed up in two arcs around her feet, Astrid turned towards the desert and began running again, just managing to get a glimpse of the people chasing her as they dove for her legs. Putting on a burst of speed, Astrid ran into the desert with four people on her heels.

"Damn! Will you just stop running?!" One of them, a male, screamed between bursting pants.

"Give me one good reason!" Astrid screamed back, raising her arms and legs to vault over a rock.

"How about the fact that we don't want to kill you?!" Another voice, a female this time, screamed.

She could have rolled her eyes, but she was kinda busy looking for more rocks. "As if I'm supposed to believe that! You're the ones chasing me!"

"We're only chasing you because you started running!" The first male shouted.

"And I only started running because your helicopter aimed a gun at me!" Astrid made the mistake of turning her head to scream back at the people, and ended up tripping over a rock. After a painful landing in the sand, she jumped into a crouching position and looked at the people as they surrounded her. Three men and a woman, all in matching blue suits.

One of the men, the most formal looking of all of them with long black hair and a tilak on his forehead, stepped forward and spread his arms. "We mean you no harm. The gun on the helicopter was just a precaution."

Frowning, Astrid crouched lower and growled, "And how am I supposed to believe that?"

The man seemed to consider this, then looked at the others around him, "Disarm yourselves."

The woman responded immediately by unclipping a gun from her waist and walking forward a bit, setting it on the rock Astrid had tripped on. She raised her hands and backed away slowly when Astrid whirled to face her and glare at her.

There was a moment when nothing else happened, and the man with the tilak turned to another man and muttered, "Reno…"

Astrid whirled as the man he spoke to, Reno, scoffed and shook his head, his red mane that was held back by a hair tie flopping over his shoulder. Nevertheless, Reno pulled an odd rod out of a leather holster on his belt and threw it into the sand. He looked up at Astrid and gave her what she assumed was supposed to be a disarming smile, but it quickly faded when she glared at him.

Then, the other man and the man with the tilak stepped forward, both of them removing guns they were carrying and setting them on the rock beside the woman's. When they backed away again, there was more silence. Astrid still didn't relent her crouch, ready to spring and start running again.

The man with the tilak frowned, "What is it now?"

Straightening a little and frowning, Astrid snapped, "You think it's that frikkin' easy? How do I know that one of you, if not all of you, isn't trained in hand-to-hand combat?"

The man blinked in surprise, then smirked and crossed his arms, "How do you figure that?"

"Hmm," She said with false contemplation in her voice, crossing one arm over her chest and grabbing her chin with her other hand, "Let's see… all of you are armed, you all arrived in a helicopter, you all arrived together, you're all armed, and you all are wearing matching suits. If that isn't supposed to scream 'trained bodyguards' or 'government officials', then I have no clue what is."

There was silence, broken a moment later by laughter from everyone around Astrid. She rounded to face Reno when he, still laughing, said to the man with the tilak, "She's got you there, Tseng."

"Yes," The man with the tilak, Tseng, replied, chuckling, "I suppose she does." Tseng then sobered and addressed Astrid, "You are right. We all have martial arts training, but we won't use it on you unless it is deemed necessary. So far, it hasn't been so."

There was more silence, and she lowered her arms, wincing at the pain in her back.

Tseng frowned, "Are you injured?"

Astrid scowled and snapped, "It's none of your—" She froze as pain bloomed on her back.

"Yep, she is, Tseng." Reno said, touching her back, "Looks like she's—" He was cut off as Astrid lashed back at him, digging her elbow into his gut.

As he stumbled backwards, coughing, she turned to glare at him, "Keep you hands OFF of my BACK!"

Reno just backed away to his original spot, still coughing.

Convinced he wasn't a threat at the moment, Astrid turned back to Tseng, who appeared to be the leader. He promptly ignored her, though, and stared behind her at Reno, waiting for the man to recover. When Reno's coughing receded, Tseng asked, "Reno?"

"It's nothing." Astrid cut in before Reno could answer. But, from the way Tseng was staring at Reno, she didn't think anyone was listening to her.

Ignoring Astrid and coughing as he answered, Reno said, "She's got some bad burns on her back."

"It's nothing." She said again, and louder, hoping someone would hear her.

"And on her legs." Reno continued, unperturbed.

"It's nothing!"

"They look too bad to be the suns fault." Reno went on, "They kinda look like fire burns."

"IT'S NOTHING!" Astrid screamed. She could feel them all looking at her as she dropped to one knee, the burns on her back hurting too much now that they were talking about them. The burns on her feet from running barefoot on desert sand didn't feel too great, either. And she didn't even want to so much as think about the burning sensation on her face. Astrid shook her head and sighed. This really sucked.

"Miss." She looked up and jumped backwards. Tseng was almost right in her face, kneeling and looking at her seriously, "We don't want to bring you in by force, but you need medical attention, and immediately. I'm going to help you to your feet, and if you struggle we will be forced to subdue you. Is that clear?"

Astrid blinked and looked around. All of them had gathered their weapons and re-holstered them, and were standing by patiently. So patiently, it was almost deadly. She knew Tseng wasn't joking; these guys could and would pin her scrawny pale, though currently burnt, butt to the ground if they had to. Dang, they probably could have caught her earlier if they had wanted to, now that she thought about it. The only reason they hadn't was because they thought she was injured…

Tseng must have noticed something change on her face, because he smiled and stood, holding out a hand. "Miss?"

Nodding, Astrid took his hand and let him pull her to her burnt feet.

He frowned when she stumbled a bit. "Rude." The tallest man with the dark skin and glasses stepped forward, nodding silently. Tseng nodded to Astrid, "Carry her to the helicopter. Her feet are more than likely injured."

The tall man, Rude, nodded, walking over to Astrid and picking her up, one arm supporting her back and the other her legs. She gritted her teeth and hissed when his arm rubbed against her burns, feeling like it was stripping several layers of skin from her back to leave it bleeding and raw.

Rude shook his head, "Sorry."

Astrid just grunted and clenched her eyes shut in return. Every step Rude took sent spikes of pain shooting though her back, and it went on so long that they all began to meld into one giant hurt.

"So tell me kid," Reno said after a moment of walking, making her open her eyes and look at him, "What're you doing all they way out her on Cactus Island? No one lives out here."

Astrid frowned and felt all of them listening, waiting for her to answer. She just shrugged, "I don't know. One minute I'm in my house, the next I'm waking up on a desert island."

Reno nodded, frowning. She was just beginning to think that he didn't believe her when he went on to ask, "So, you met the cactuars?"

She blinked and turned her head to look at him, "Huh?"

"The cactuars." He repeated, waving his arm at the desert, "You know. The crazy little cactuses that run around out here, tormenting all who visit their island."

"Yes, I have." Astrid replied frowning, "And the plural of cactus is 'cacti', by the way." She paused, then asked, "How did you know?"

Reno grinned cheekily, "Your face."

Astrid blinked, then raised her hand to touch her cheeks, remembering the bloody pinprick holes that must be covering them like a bad case of chicken pox. She sighed and shook her head, "I hate them."

"Could be worse," Reno shrugged, "They could have used '1,000 Needles' on you. Now that would have hurt."

Astrid blinked and stared at him in confusion. ''Used '1,000 Needles' on me'? What does that mean?' But she couldn't actually ask. Tseng and the others seemed to know what Reno was taking about, and even Rude nodded after Reno had said it. Was there something going on here that was supposed to be common knowledge that she wasn't getting? If so, that was bad, and she didn't want to comment on a topic she didn't know about. Too risky.

Instead, she closed her eyes and pretended to doze off, which was really hard seeing as her back was burning and her legs felt like the flesh was melting off of them. She gritted her teeth and cut back a scream as Rude stumbled over something. 'Please let this end.'

When Astrid smelled the surf again, she opened her eyes and looked around. They were standing on a part of the beach where the tide was low and the sand was wet and compact for miles. Better spot for the helicopter to land than out in the dry, loose desert sand.

"You can pick us up now." She heard Tseng say, and she looked over to see him talking into something that looked like a cell phone, "We'll save the maintenance for another day. We have someone who needs medical attention, so we'll be heading back to Shin-Ra headquarters."

Astrid felt something freeze inside of her when he said that, and, mouth suddenly bone dry, she rasped, "Shin-Ra?"

"Yep." Reno chirped, "The Shin-Ra Electric Power Company, run by President Shinra."

Mouth still dry, Astrid gasped, "You work… for Shin-Ra?!" She desperately hoped she hadn't heard him correctly. 'Maybe the sun is getting to my head… Hehe, yeah! That's it! The heat's gone straight to my brain and I heard him wrong!'

"That's right." Tseng said, shutting the cell phone and putting it back into his pocket, "We are apart of the General Affairs Department, a subsection of Public Safety Maintenance."

'DAMN IT! I wish he hadn't said that! …Wait… General Affairs Department? …Tseng?'

Now, Astrid may not have been a real uber game player back home, but she still looked a few things up on the internet about the game, even if it was only to be able to keep up with her brother's crazed game ranting. One of the things she had managed to find on the internet was a basic layout of the Shin-Ra company, and now that she thought about it, she distinctly remembered there being a branch of Shin-Ra known as the 'Investigative Division of the General Affairs Department', with a picture of Tseng below it. But, there was another name right above the department name that she had recognized even more…

"You're the Turks."

Tseng frowned, then nodded.

Astrid could feel the blood draining from her face as her body turned cold. The Turks. They were the Turks. And the Turks worked for Shin-Ra. And Shin-Ra was in Midgar. And Midgar was in Gaia. And Gaia was… 'The planet in the Final Fantasy VII universe…'

Now, though it may be that there are some of you out there who would be overjoyed at the thought of being in Gaia, but it was really just the opposite for Astrid because so far, she'd had a really bad impression of the place. She'd had gotten slapped by a cactus… twice, burnt her back and face, been chased across the scalding sands of a desert until she had burned and rubbed her feet raw, and lost her brother, who had been taken by… she felt her entire body jerk.

Oh no… Marcus… the man who had been in her house… the man with the silver hair, green eyes, black cloak, and unsettling smile… that man was… "Sephiroth."

Astrid barely heard Tseng exclaim, "Did you just say Sephiroth?"

They said more things, but she couldn't hear them beyond the murmurs of their voices. Astrid pushed herself out of Rude's arms and stumbled across the sand, dropping to her knees and staring out at the ocean.

Sephiroth had Marcus. Her little brother, and Sephiroth had him. Which meant Jenova had him. No…

"MARCUS!!"

As Astrid got to her feet and stumbled around, she could feel their hands grabbing at her, saying things to her, but she couldn't hear them. All she could hear was the roar of the fire; their hands felt like the flames. And she could see Sephiroth before her, holding her brother, his blood running down the man's blade. Sephiroth smiling sadistically at her.

"SEPHIROTH, GIVE HIM BACK!! GIVE MARCUS BACK!!"

All the things she hadn't done… that she should have done… She shouldn't have teased him so much… She should have helped him on his homework… She should have stayed with him rather than gone off to write a stupid story… She should have… She should have…

"MARCUS! MARCUS, I'M SORRY! MARCUS!!"

Suddenly, she was pinned to the ground, sand flying into her eyes. Astrid struggled to get up, but couldn't move. She heard the woman, who she remembered now to be Elena, yelling in her ear.

"Calm down! We're here to help you, so calm down!"

Astrid responded by curling up into a ball and scrunching her eyes shut, trying not to agitate the sand and trying to hold back the tears. Sephiroth had Marcus… and it was all her fault.

There was a loud whirring and she looked up at the sky, watching as the helicopter descended onto the packed sand. Astrid lay limp as Elena got off of her and Rude picked her up again, carrying her to the helicopter. He set her down on the cool metal floor and the Turks crawled in around her prone form, taking their seats and strapping themselves in. Someone picked her up and put her in a chair, pulling the safety belt over her and strapping her in tightly. Tseng's voice shouted a command and the whirring of the blades reached a crescendo, followed by the craft rising into the air jerkily.

After the helicopter reached a safe flying altitude and was well into the flight, Astrid felt herself being unstrapped and pulled onto the floor. Then someone was pouring water over her eyes, trying to wash away the sand. Everything was blurred at first, but then it began to clear and she could see again. The Turks were all staring at her and Elena was holding a bottle of water over her head.

"Miss?" Tseng asked after a moment.

Astrid just shook her head and scooted backwards until she bumped into the wall of the helicopter. She turned her head to the side and pressed her cheek against the cold metal, the sharp contrast to her flaming cheeks clearing her head.

After a few moments of silence, Reno spoke up and asked, "How do you know Sephiroth?"

Shaking her head, Astrid sighed, "He kidnapped my brother…"

"What would he want with your brother?" She could hear his frown and skepticism in his voice, and she couldn't blame him.

"I don't know." It was just as unimaginable to her that Sephiroth would want her brother as it was probably to them. Something just wasn't adding up.

"What's your name?" Elena chirped, trying to lighten the mood.

"Astrid Cray." She answered, closing her eyes. The cold metal felt so good…

"Miss Cray?" Astrid slit her eyes tiredly and looked at Tseng, who nodded and smiled at her, "I am Tseng, head of the Turks. This is Reno, Rude, and Elena," He nodded to each of them in turn before looking back at her and smiling again, "We're going to take you back to our headquarters where the finest doctors in all of Gaia will be able to help you. You can rest easy."

Instead of laughing coldly like she should have, Astrid just managed a weak smile before her eyelids slid shut and she began to drift away. 'Hah, 'finest doctors'… More like crazed scientists, and I don't even want to imagine what it'll be like having to deal with Hojo…' With that, Astrid fell into a troubled sleep.


	5. The ShinRa Board of Directors

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(President Shinra and the Board of Directors)

When Astrid came to, to say that she was angry at what she found would have been an understatement. After looking around herself for a few confused moments and listening to the conversations going on round her, she was absolutely livid.

Instead of waking to a clean, sterilized bed like she had figured she was going to, she woke strapped to a chair and sitting in the Shin-Ra company's meeting room. Before her stretched a long, mahogany table with a red strip of crimson cloth running from one end to the other. There were roughly eighteen chairs around the table, not including her own and the chair at the head, but there were only seven people occupying them.

On the right side of the table were Palmer, Hojo, and Reeve. On the left side were Scarlet, Heidegger, and Rufus. At the head of the table was President Shinra. But Astrid overlooked all of these people and chose to look at the four behind Heidegger. Or rather… she chose to glare at them.

"'You can rest easy', eh?" She hissed venomously, locking eyes with Tseng. She could feel the eyes of the rest of the people at the table on her, now, but she just stared at each of the Turks. How foolish she had been, to trust the Turks. They were, after all, Shin-Ra employees, and everyone who knew even a bit about FFVII knew you couldn't trust Shin-Ra. How stupid she had been.

Tseng stared back stonily at her, replying in an even tone, "The President expressed interest in speaking to you after we sent transmission that we were bringing you back from the island. He requested that we bring you directly to the meeting room."

Astrid snorted and looked down the table, now acknowledging the presence of the President, Vice-President, and the Board of Directors. She noticed that Hojo had a stack of papers sitting in front of him, and he seemed to be splitting his attention between reading whatever was on the papers and looking at her, small smirks and mischievous gleams in his eyes. She frowned, 'What is he up to…'

"Well, Miss Cray," Shinra's voice cut through the silence, tearing Astrid's attention away from the scientist and back to the tycoon. Shinra frowned and looked at her seriously, "What exactly were you doing in a restricted zone?"

Angry and unsure, Astrid decided to stick with playing stupid. "Why, President Shinra, what could you possibly be referring to?" She smiled prettily but daftly and quirked her head, hoping to at least throw him off a bit.

This incited several reactions out of the group. Palmer and Heidegger blinked stupidly and looked to their president for a reaction. Scarlet blinked and quirked a brow. Reeve buried his fist into his mouth and furrowed his brow, trying to give the impression that he was frowning (though Astrid got the feeling that he was actually trying not to smile). Hojo frowned at her, then turned back to his papers. Rufus smirked and shook his head. The Turks remained stoic for the most part, though a few of them did throw her questioning looks and Reno coughed back a laugh and smiled openly at her.

President Shinra, on the other hand, just blinked vapidly and replied in his serious voice, "I am referring, Miss Cray, to the incident that occurred just two days ago, when the Investigative Team found you on Cactus Island."

"Oooooooooh!" Astrid drawled, widening her eyes and opening her mouth widely. She then smiled again and said, "Well, you see, I went down there to get a, like, totally awesome tan and look for a bit of excitement, but the only vaguely exciting thing that happened was your stupid Turks coming in and crashing the party. Their helicopter, like, totally shredded my stuff." She paused, then frowned and quirked a brow, "I hope you plan on replacing my stuff, because if you don't, I'll, like, seriously open a lawsuit on you for endangering my life, because that whole 'laser gun thingy' pointing at me was totally uncalled for."

At this point, Reeve, Rufus, and the Turks were nearly cracking at her 'Valley Girl' accent, while Scarlet and Hojo just shook their heads and Palmer and Heidegger were still blinking stupidly.

Shinra blinked again, replying tepidly, "No, Miss Cray, we don't plan on reimbursing you for your items. Now, back to the matter at hand—"

"That is SO totally bogus!" Astrid burst, frown even deeper and openly faking her 'stupidity'. She knew by now that she was treading on dangerous ground, but she hardly cared. She was ticked.

"Miss Cray," Shinra cut in, his voice raising, "I ask that you take this matter seriously. You are in quite a bit of trouble, and you can hardly afford to get into any more." Astrid blinked and fell silent, so Shinra continued. "You don't appear to be a citizen of Midgar, or so I am told. Is that correct, Reeve?"

Reeve snapped out of his silent laughter and coughed, replying, "Yes. From what we can tell, there is no 'Astrid Cray' in Midgar, Kalm, Junon, Costa del Sol, or Rocket Town. We are currently searching for information elsewhere, but so far there is no family registered under the surname 'Cray'."

Shinra nodded, "Thank you, Reeve." He then turned to Astrid, who was still silent and still. "Miss Cray?"

Astrid shook her head and sighed, unsure of how to proceed. Then, an idea came to her, and she sat up straight, her face serious and sober. She casually crossed her right leg over her left and lowered her eyelids slightly, giving the pretense that she was now calm and collected. Some at the table blinked. This was a completely different person.

"Why stop at me, Shinra? Why don't we all give up the charade and get down to the serious talk. Like what you want from me." Astrid drawled, her voice liquid and sure.

Shinra straightened and smirked, pleased to be getting somewhere. "And what makes you think I want anything from you?"

Astrid shrugged lazily, sighing, "I'm here, first off." When no one said anything, she continued. "And, if the Turks did their jobs correctly, like I assume they did, a certain name that has some level of interest to everyone in this room should have come up in their reports."

"Oh?" Shinra quirked a brow, still smirking, "And what name might that be?"

"Sephiroth." Astrid smirked when several people at the table gasped.

Shinra leaned forward, still acting cool though Astrid could see the elated light dancing in his eyes. "And what makes you think that this 'Sephiroth' means anything to Shin-Ra?"

Astrid's smirk died and she narrowed her eyes at the tycoon, "I ask that you not attempt to play me for a fool, Shinra, or try to weasel more information out of me before we get down to business."

"Business?" Shinra looked generally interested in what Astrid was saying now, "And what leads you to believe you have 'business' with Shin-Ra?"

Astrid shrugged casually, "I have information you want, you can give me things I want. Need I spell it out any more obviously?"

Shinra leaned back and smirked, "What makes you think I can give you anything you want?"

"You're Shin-Ra." Was all Astrid said in reply.

When Shinra laughed boisterously, it was all Astrid could do to prevent herself from cringing. She hated to make any deals with anyone intimately related to Shin-Ra, but she had few choices. She had to get Marcus back quickly and efficiently, and Shin-Ra was the most obvious way to do that. Though she agreed that Cloud's way was a lot better, it would take too long. She needed results, and she needed them before her brother was dead.

"Very well." Shinra said after a moment, still chuckling, "What can I give you?"

"Well," Astrid replied slowly, looking down at her wrists, "These binds aren't exactly helping my circulation in any obvious way…"

The President snapped his fingers and two men in blue military uniforms walked forward, cutting the metal wire that bound her wrists.

Astrid looked down at the metal ties on the ground, rubbing her wrists thoughtfully. 'Hmm… if that was that easy, I wonder what else I can request…' She felt Hojo looking at her again and shuddered, 'I wonder if they'll stab that guys eyes out for me…'

She was so busy thinking she hadn't heard what Shinra said, so she looked up and blinked, "Huh?"

Shinra quirked a brow and repeated, "Is that all? If it is, what do you know about Sephiroth?"

"No," Astrid shook her head, "That's not all." She looked up, her face set grimly. Now she was getting serious. "Sephiroth took something from me. Something invaluable and very important. I want written assurance that what he has shall be returned to me, safe and unharmed, when your men apprehend him."

Shinra frowned, "And what makes you think that Shin-Ra shall ever attempt to apprehend Sephiroth?"

All Astrid gave in reply was, "You will."

The man sighed heavily, taking a moment to think about it. Finally, he said, "Very well." He took out a piece of paper and a pen, laying it out on the table and beginning to write. "What exactly am I assuring the return of?"

"A boy." Everyone in the room looked at Astrid at this, even Shinra looking up at her, a confused frown on his face. Astrid ignore them and went on to say, "He'll appear to be about ten years old, roughly four feet eleven inches, skinny, blonde hair cut in a ridiculous pudding-bowl fashion, green eyes. Answers to 'Marcus'." She fought back the tears of anger and grief that threatened to rise at her description, a slightly thick tone in her voice.

"A relative, I take it?"

Astrid turned to Reeve, who had asked the question, and nodded, "My brother…"

Silence elapsed in the room, a few people looking at her with pity on their faces. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly, knowing what they were thinking. Chances where low that Marcus was alive, and they were worsening by the moment.

"Alright." Shinra said, signing his name at the bottom of the page with a flare, "The contract is signed. If ever Shin-Ra finds itself perusing Sephiroth and the company is under my jurisdiction, your brother shall be returned to you. Though I'm not sure I can guarantee the 'safe' and 'unharmed' parts."

"Of course." Astrid nodded. This was, after all, Sephiroth they were dealing with. At this point, she was lucky to have written assurance that Shin-Ra would do anything. She accepted the paper as one of the guards who had unbound her handed it to her, folding it and setting it on the table in front of her.

"Now," Shinra said when she was done, leaning forward, "What can you tell us about Sephiroth."

Astrid thought about her answer carefully, not wanting to give away too much. She had to, after all, think if the stability of the future. She was lucky that the structure of the universe hadn't collapsed with her very presence. "I know that he is alive and well. He has some new, powerful materia, and he's planning something big. Something that could jeopardize the lives of many."

"This materia," Scarlet jumped in, eyes flashing, "What does it do?"

Astrid shook her head, thinking back to the orb Sephiroth used in her house. "Advanced teleportation, as far as I could tell. He can access some sort of portal and take himself anywhere he wants to. He can even carry others through."

"Is that what happened to you?" Reeve asked.

She looked at him for a moment, then closed her eyes and raised a hand to her forehead, trying to remember. Her head jerked to the side, eyes snapping open.

_She jumped into the light as they disappeared…_

_Everything around her faded to white…_

_Everything was so warm…_

_She closed her eyes and fell into the abyss…_

Miss Cray?

_To fulfill her destiny, the girl would have to traverse time and space, going from her world to the world where she was needed._

Miss Cray? Can you hear me?

_Marcus…_

Miss Cray?

"Miss Cray?"

Astrid opened her eyes and found herself sitting upright, looking straight ahead. She blinked, then lowered her hand from her forehead and looked at it. Everything had suddenly been thrown into such sharp relief…

"Miss Cray?"

Astrid blinked, lowering her hand further and looking down the table. The Shin-Ra employees and President were all looking at her oddly, some with slight spikes of worry in their eyes. She noticed that their outlines were so much more distinct. Shaking her head, Astrid looked at Reeve, "What were we talking about?"

Reeve sat back in his seat, stunned.

Frowning, Astrid turned to the President instead. "President Shinra?"

The tycoon blinked, then shook his head, "Is there anything else you remember about Sephiroth? Do you remember what he was planning on doing?"

She thought about it, then shook her head dazedly, bringing her hand back to her forehead, "Huh? …n… No… Nothing strikes me… at the moment…"

"Might I suggest," Hojo cut in smoothly, speaking directly to Shinra, "That she be turned over to my department until she feels… more inclined to answer? And, while we're at it, we might look at her injuries… and perhaps her anatomy. I must say," The scientist looked back down at his papers and shuffled through them, the gleam from earlier coming back to his eyes, "We may have only taken a small sample of her blood, but it was enough to tell us about her amazing structure. She has an absolutely astounding immune system, simply riddled with antibodies to diseases we have never seen before!"

Astrid snapped out of her daze slightly at this, frowning, "And what if I don't feel particularly inclined to agree with being experimented upon? Or does the term 'informed consent' mean nothing to the scientists of Midgar?"

Hojo turned to her and smiled cruelly, "Informed consent only works if the patient isn't a danger to the citizens of Midgar…"

"That's a load of crap!" Astrid shouted, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands onto the table.

There was silence, broken by Shinra when he said, "That is how things work in Midgar."

When the soldiers began to close in on her, Astrid stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over her chair. Things were happening so fast; the conversation had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. "B-but… this isn't right! How am I a danger to the people of Midgar?! I'm just a high school student!"

As the men grabbed her, Hojo stood and walked towards her, still smiling, "A high school student you may be, but you're a high school student that Sephiroth might be after. After all, he did take your brother. Who's to say he won't come back for you?"

When one of the soldiers moved behind her to bind her wrists, Astrid began to fight back. Taking half a step forward, she lifted her leg high and brought it down heavily, stomping the instep of the man behind her, something cracking. The guard fell to the side, screaming. When the other soldier dove at her from the side to pin her, she threw herself backwards and slammed into the door, raising the same leg so it met the soldier halfway, kneeing him in the groin and sending him writhing on the floor.

Eyes blazing with anger, Astrid looked up and glared at everyone in the room, unsurprised when Heidegger waved his arm and ordered the Turks to subdue her, his 'Gya haa haa haa' laugh rolling through the room. They approached Astrid slowly, Tseng saying something about them 'not wanting to hurt her' so long as she 'came quietly', or something to that effect. She wasn't too sure; she was busy trying to open the doors with her back turned to the handles. By the time she had found the handles, the Turks where halfway across the room. When she found the doors locked, they were three-quarters of the way to her.

She would have run to the other side of the table, had she not noticed that Reno and Rude had separated from Tseng and Elena and were coming from that side. She looked to the ceiling above her for a vent, but found nothing. 'Crap.' Taking a second last glance around the room for anything, her eyes locked on to something hanging on the wall behind President Shinra's head. A hanging decoration consisting of two crossed swords with emblem of the Shin-Ra company logo on the wooden support. So decorative… so out of place… so what she needed.

Not taking another second to think about it, Astrid ran forward and jumped onto the table, running across and to the swords, never taking her eyes off of them. She jumped over Shinra just as he dove out of the way and latched onto a sword, the whole decoration falling to the ground as her weight ripped the nail out of the wall. Yanking the sword from its place, she stood and unsheathed the sword, blade shining as she spun and held it at ready. Decorative sword or not, she could still run someone through with the pointed tip if she had to.

By now, the Turks had turned and were making their way over to her, their weapons out now that she was armed. Reno walked ahead of Rude, trying to talk her into being calm in a joking manner. "Come on, kid, just cool it. You and I both know that you have no idea how to use that thing—"

Astrid sprung to his side of the table and lashed out at him, smacking his hand with the flat of her commandeered blade.

Reno jumped back as his Electro-Mag Rod fell out of his hand, staring at her in shock. He then laughed and rubbed the back of his hand, "Alright, so maybe you do know what you're doing."

"Seven years of fencing, Reno. Please don't patronize me, and don't assume to know me." Astrid snapped, glaring at the red-headed man.

"What are you flippin' out for, anyway?" Reno asked, taking a step back as she advanced on him, "What's the worst that could—"

"I said don't patronize me!" Astrid shouted. "You honestly think I don't know what that freak," she flicked the tip of the blade Hojo's way, "Does to his 'patients'?! He's frikkin' insane, Reno! And I'm not about to willingly become another one of his experiments!"

Frowning, Hojo stood and looked directly at Astrid, paying no mind when she turned the sword on him, "I suppose I am expected to take some amount of offense to your vulgar opinion of me—"

"No, actually," Astrid scoffed, rolling her eyes, "As soon as someone becomes one of your test subjects, they cease to be intelligent beings."

"But," Hojo continued, ignoring completely what she had said, "I'll discount that and move on. I have plenty of other matters to attend to, and this is already trying my precious time. Now," He turned and looked at his boss, who had already recovered and was standing, "President?"

Shinra wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and nodded, "Very well, Hojo. She's under your jurisdiction."

Astrid glared at Hojo as the man turned back to her, smiling widely once again. She frowned, "And just what do you plan on doing?"

"This." And before she could do anything, Hojo dug something shiny and black out of his pocket, pressing the only button on it.

Just as Astrid dove for the device, something stung her neck. She dropped the sword and raised her hands to where the stinging had come from, finding a small metal box with four clamps dug into her skin.

'Why in the hell didn't I notice this before?' The skin there felt tingly and numb. 'Ah. Numbing injection.'

Something hot spread underneath her skin and her brain became foggy. Everyone at the table stood as she stumbled backwards, running into the wall and glaring at Hojo.

"Wha?"

Hojo shook his head and laughed, "Just a little sleeping injection. Nothing you should concern yourself with."

Still glaring at the man, Astrid sunk down onto the ground. "Damn… you…" She then lost all motor and cognitive skills, and fell into a deep, drug induced slumber. She thought she heard Hojo laughing when everything went black.


	6. The Multifaceted Ailment Experiment

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The Multifaceted Ailment Experiment)

The first few weeks were the worst. After several blood, urine, and who knows what other body liquid tests, Hojo decided that Astrid was the perfect subject to test several diseases, poisons, viruses, and other such things on. He said that she had a healthy white blood cell count, and that she was immune to many alien diseases, so he figured that a few common Gaia ailments would mean nothing to her.

How wrong he was.

All of the Gaian illnesses that he shoved into her were so much worse than anything she had faced on Earth, and some of them were the most common viruses that infected the Midgar citizens. Even when he was done with her for the day and had given her the 'cure' for whatever it was he had put into her, Astrid still lay awake in bed at night, writing with the pain that wracked her body.

It got so bad that there were times when she couldn't sleep for days on end, forcing Hojo to lay off the experiments and give her daily injections of sleeping draught. After one particular virus that had left her sleepless for two weeks and out of commission for three, Hojo decided to give her a day off every two days so she was assured at least twenty-four hours of sleep in three days.

Eventually, her immune system did kick in and begin to fight the diseased back, though not always to Hojo's standards. The days melted into weeks, the weeks to months, and the months to time she could no longer measure. Whenever she wasn't in a tube and being injected with a new virus, she was in her small, white cell, exhausted and in pain.

She was never able to keep up with the news in Midgar, so she could never tell exactly what was going on. Had AVALANCHE blown up the reactor, yet? Would Aerith be joining her soon in the containment block? Would she ever see the sun again?

Speaking of the sun, Astrid was getting paler and paler all the time. Her hair grew lank and greasy, and her eyelids were practically sagging with oils. Soon, she couldn't stand sleeping on her bed because it was always messy with her oils from the previous night. So, she completely abandoned her sheets, pillow, and mattress and slept on the metal ledge.

After some time, Astrid began to suspect that being around Hojo so much was beginning to rub off on her. She became aloof and short-tempered, looked down on the assistants (even though she was the experiment), and even began to walk with a hunch. When she bothered to pull her hair back one day, she was mistaken for Hojo a total of twenty-three times.

"Oh!" One lab assistant exclaimed, blinking rapidly, "I-I'm sorry! From behind, you looked so much like…" He trailed off, then squinted his eyes and took a closer look at her face, "Are you Hojo's daughter, or something?"

…Astrid later got in trouble for leaving the man with a broken nose. Though, when he heard about what happened, rumors went around the lab that Hojo ended up doing worse things to the man. The lab assistant never came back, so it was assumed he was fired… or worse…

After that incident, Astrid knew that things were getting bad. One day, she refused to comply with what Hojo said and demanded to be allowed to shower more frequently and have more than two sets of lab outfits for clothes. Hojo refused, at first, but after she threw a tantrum and broke the vial containing that day's virus, he complied… as well as got sick for the rest of the week with the 'Itchy Feet' virus, though itchy feet was only one of the side affects.

While he was gone, one of his assistants put in a work order for clothes. Fortunately for Astrid, the assistant was either stupid or felt sorry for the 'disease girl', because the clothes she got were actual pants, shirts, sweaters, jackets, underwear, and a pair of boots. And, the whole week Hojo was gone, Astrid took hour long showers every day, so she was basically scrubbed raw by the time he got back.

After what seemed to be years (though was really just several months), Hojo began a series of the worst experiments on her by far; Hojo began to subject Astrid to various levels of mako poisoning.

…Needless to say, this changed Astrid in more ways than one, and few of them were good.

Then, one day…

Astrid was woken by a sharp knocking on her door. She woke with a start, glaring at the door, "What the hell do you want?!"

There was a pause before the guard replied, "Visitor."

Frowning, she rolled back over and stared at the wall, "If it's Hojo, tell him to go to hell."

Silence, followed by the sound of the door depressurizing and sliding open. Astrid groaned and wrapped her arms around her head, hoping to ignore Hojo into going away.

"'Sup, kid?"

Astrid's eyes shot open. That didn't sound like Hojo… She sat up and looked at the person standing in the door, gapping at who it was.

The person chuckled, "What? Forget who I am?"

Snapping out of her stupor, Astrid shook her head and growled, "As if I could forget, Reno of the Turks."

Reno stepped into the room, letting the door slide shut behind him, "Hey, what's with the formalities?" When he heard the door began to hiss, he turned and looked it up and down. "A pressurized door? Nice. What did you do to—"

"Haven't you heard, Reno?" Astrid snapped, pushing herself to her feet, "I'm the labs new 'Multifaceted Ailment Experiment'." When he just looked at her blankly, she rolled her eyes and said, "That means I'm used test out the effects of different types of sicknesses. They had to give me a pressurized door so I wouldn't spread any diseases."

"Really?" Reno quirked a brow, "Why is Hojo experimenting with diseases?"

"Beats me." Astrid shrugged, staring at her shoe and scuffing the floor, "Guess he's just curious. It is, after all, what most scientists do when they're curious: Experiment."

She felt Reno looking her up and down, though it wasn't in an attraction related way. He was probably shocked. Astrid knew she was paler, skinnier, more haggard, and more bent than when she had arrived. She also knew she had a bit of a shorter temper, which was currently flaring the longer he looked at her.

"Will you stop already? You're making me uncomfortable."

Reno blinked several times and shook his head, sighing, "You look like crap."

"How nice of you to state the obvious and be horrendously blunt about it." She commented dryly. When he didn't say anything, she sighed irritably and snapped, "What do you want? Did you just come to stare, or is there actually purpose to your presence?"

Reno quirked a brow, "Do I need a reason to visit a friend?"

Astrid blinked stupidly and stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish's. Then, shaking her head, she growled, "Since when did you start to consider me a friend? Have you started taking drugs with your drinks? You know that'll kill you."

Reno sighed and shook his head, muttering, "You've been in here way too long." Then, without a moment's hesitation, he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the door, "Alright, let's go."

Digging her heels into the tiled floors wasn't helping, so Astrid smacked Reno's hand and screamed, "What in the hell are you doing?!"

Ignoring the fact that she was screaming, Reno reached out to knock on the door, "You're joining the Turks for breakfast. Oi! Open up!"

Astrid scowled and ripped her hand out of Reno's grasp, gesturing down to her clothes, "Can I at least get dressed?!" She was still wearing her white nightshirt and pants.

Reno shrugged, "If you want to. I'll be waiting out here, so just shout when you're ready." He stepped through the doorway and smiled to her as it shut.

Astrid glared at the spot where his head was, imagining a nice fire rearing up out of his hair and burning his head. After a moment of glaring, she walked to her bed and grabbed a bag from underneath it, spilling out the clothes inside and rummaging through them. "Too bright, too dark, too pastel, too colorful, hate that color, hate how it fits me…" She went on like this for five minutes, arguing with herself about why she even cared about what the Turks thought of her. They had, after all, betrayed her. …Maybe it was the fact that they were the only ones who had actually been marginally nice to her, in a way…

After seven minutes, she finally settled on a charcoal sweater with dark jeans, pulling them on with the only pair of shoes she had, black boots. Satisfied, she walked over to the door and shouted, "Alright. Ready!"

As soon as the door opened, she was pulled outside by Reno, who looked her up and down and nodding in approval, "Much better. Now, let's go!" He led her to an open elevator and pressed the button, then turned to talk to her. What he saw stopped him from saying anything.

Astrid had run across the elevator and pressed herself against the glass, looking down at the city with rapt focus. She stared at the sun until her eyes watered, then looked down at Midgar and waited until the spots disappeared to watch the people. She breathed in heavily, imagining smelling the Midgar air. Sure, it probably would have been polluted and thick, but anything would have been better than another day smelling chemicals and sterilized plastic.

It seemed like too soon that the elevator ride stopped and the door slid open, and Reno held it open for longer than the doors were used to as Astrid tore herself away from the view of the outside world. When the door closed, she sighed and turned to the room she was now in, blinking in surprise.

There were tables, chairs, and people everywhere, and in the center of it all was a tree. And actual tree! Astrid resisted the urge to break away from Reno and run over to it, climb up its trunk, and crawl out onto one of its branches so she could bury her face in the leaves. For as long as she had been breathing recycled air, fresh air would probably taste good.

"Coming?"

Astrid shook her head and looked at Reno, who was a few steps away and looking back at her with a patient stare. After a moment, she nodded her head and followed him, making sure the tree was in the corner of her vision the whole time.

"Reno! Over here!"

She looked to where Reno was leading her to see Tseng, Rude, and Elena sitting at a table, Elena standing and waving at her companion. Astrid frowned. They weren't anywhere near the tree…

As they got closer, the Turks noticed the girl following Reno and stared at her, their eyes widening when they recognized her. Elena's mouth dropped open when she saw Astrid, "My God…"

Lowering her eyes at their stares, Astrid quietly took the seat Reno had led her to and stared at the plastic table, sterile and white. 'Like the rest of my world.' Unable to stand looking at it, she lifted her face and looked at the Turks, who were still staring at her in shock.

"Astrid?..." Elena whispered after a moment.

Suddenly annoyed by their shock, Astrid hissed, "What? Shocked? I'm surprised. I'd figured that, as Turks, you'd seen a lot of the side effects of being one of Hojo's guinea pigs. Or have you just never noticed? Never known one of them personally, so you never paid attention to how they looked? Never taken into consideration how they must have looked before the experiments?"

Silence fell over the table as Astrid glared at each of them in turn, clenching and unclenching her hands on the table top. After a moment, Tseng managed to say, "Miss Cray…"

Astrid turned on Tseng, narrowing her eyes, "Save it, Turk. I don't want to hear any of it." When trays were set before each of them by a waiter, she looked at her food, "I just want to eat something that's not food for the lab rats."

The first twenty minutes of the meal were spent in silence, the Turks stealing a few quick glances at their company before she glared them all into staring at their own food. Astrid managed a few bites before her anger and the overall richness of the food made her set it aside before she hurled. There was just too much flavor compared to the bland, grey blobs she usually got.

Trying to break the silence, Reno looked at Astrid and smiled, "So… what're you and Hojo working on now?"

Dropping a piece of toast she was glaring at, Astrid looked up at Reno with a blank face and replied, "He's currently testing the various levels of mako poisoning. He says that the results are pleasing him, so I might get a break in two weeks."

They fell silent again. After another moment, Elena managed to say, "That would explain your eyes…"

Astrid snapped her gaze to the female Turk and barked, "What?"

"Your eyes," Elena explained, squirming under Astrid's glare, "They're a brighter green than they used to be…"

"Mako does that?" Astrid asked, frowning. The only times she'd seen her reflection since the mako poison testing started had been through beakers, so she hadn't noticed a thing.

Elena nodded nervously, "Yeah… high levels of mako change people… the most notable changes being in the eyes…"

Astrid scowled. It sounded like Elena was quoting a book. "So, there is already knowledge of what mako does to the human body?" When Elena nodded, Astrid gritted her teeth, the plastic fork she had been using to prod her eggs with bending until it snapped.

"But I'm sure Professor Hojo has a good reason for testing it on you!" Elena almost shouted, trying to placate the angry teen, "I mean, he wouldn't do it if there was no reason, right?"

Astrid glared at Elena, her eyes flashing, "You haven't worked for Shin-Ra long, have you?" Elena just shrunk back in her chair.

"Speaking of Hojo," Tseng said after a moment, looking at Reno, "Does he know you have her up here?"

"Hojo can kiss my ass." Reno said, taking a gulp of his orange juice, "She looks like crap and she needed to get out of that damn cell. You can almost see her skull through her skin!" That argument dropped the topic of Hojo completely.

"…How long have I been here?" Astrid asked quietly, swirling her drink around in its cup.

There was a pregnant pause before Tseng answered, "The better part of five months."

Astrid sighed and closed her eyes, lowering her head to lay it on the table. Five months… five months… how much had she missed in that time? ... Her eyes opened lazily to look at her feet. 'I missed my nineteenth birthday.' She then shot into a sitting position, "I missed my graduation…" She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. Nineteen, and she wasn't even a high school graduate.

"…There's no word on your brother yet."

She raised her head and looked at Tseng with blurred eyes, "What?"

"Your brother," Tseng repeated, frowning, "There's no word on him. There hasn't even been a sighting of Sephiroth."

"My brother?" Astrid repeated, "Brother…" She said the word over and over again in her head, mouthing it to get her tongue around the word. Who was her?... A shock went through her system, "Marcus…"

Eyes wide, Astrid raised her hands and stared at them. They were shaking.

_She had forgotten her brother._

Marcus… her little brother… the boy she had grown up tormenting and loving at the same time…the boy who loved Final Fantasy… the boy who hated broccoli… the boy with the stupid, pudding-bowl haircut… the boy she had promised to help with his math… the boy she had run through the fire to find… the boy Sephiroth had taken… her Marcus… and she had forgotten him.

When she felt something hot and wet running down her face, Astrid didn't need to feel it to know what it was. She already knew. And she deserved the mess it would leave behind on her face. …Hell, she deserved a lot worse than that, but that something worse hadn't come yet.

"Astrid."

She looked up at Reno and shook her head, "Reno… I forgot him. Just five months, and I forgot all about him."

"It's not your fault," Reno said, shaking his head sympathetically, "You've been Hojo's experiment for so long, going through so much, it's surprising you haven't lost your mind. I mean, damn, most people go crazy after dealing with mako poisoning."

Astrid sighed shakily and shook her head, "Five months to undo almost eleven years? No, Reno… no matter what, I shouldn't have forgotten."

Reno sighed and rubbed his head, "Look, don't worry about it right now. Enjoy your time outta that cell before Hojo comes tearin' through here and drags you back. There's no telling when I'll be able to get you out again."

Looking down at her food, Astrid contemplated this. Being the experiment of Hojo, and therefore technically no longer an intelligent or even sentient being, she should be back in her cell, staring at the ceiling until a lab assistant came to get her for the daily dose of hell. If they found out about her breakfast excursion, she might never be able to come out again…

Astrid grabbed Reno's unused plastic fork (he had just eaten some toast) and began to shovel her food into her mouth, deciding something as she ate. This wouldn't be the last normal breakfast she ate. This wouldn't be her last time out of the containment block. If she had to attack Hojo again with another virus, she was going to get the freedom to wander the Shin-Ra building. She was going to be allowed to have breakfast, and even have it with the Turks. She was going to be allowed to breathe fresh air and see the sun again. If she didn't, she knew she would eventually go mad.

When her tray was clear, Astrid was in better spirits. She began to laugh and joke with the Turks, smiling freely now. No, she wasn't going to let Hojo torment her any longer. She was going to be free…

The day wore on and, the Turks not getting any calls for work and Astrid not being searched for, they sat at the table until lunch came, and even passed that. Astrid was having the time of her life when she heard something on the screen.

"The Mako Reactor! Someone took out the Mako Reactor!"

The group stopped laughing and turned to the television, watching with wide eyes as a panicked reporter stuttered to the viewers that someone had destroyed one of the southern mako reactors, that many had died, and that it was apparently the work of AVALANCHE.

The Turks regretfully excused themselves, Astrid repeatedly forgiving them with a sincere smile. Though she was sorry for their leaving, she was brimming with joy on the inside. This was it. Aerith would come soon, then AVALANCHE, then they would escape. Then, the search for Sephiroth would begin, and Shin-Ra would be able to get Marcus back.

Wishing the Turks one final 'good luck', Astrid walked into the other elevator and took it back to Hojo's floor, where she was sure to be punished for disappearing. What she was greeted by, though, was what appeared to be an empty floor.

After wandering down the halls for a bit and finding no one, Astrid was sure that she was, indeed, the only person on the entire floor. In the final room she checked, she found boxes, a silver dome, and a blue specimen tube. Seeing as the silver dome was the closest, Astrid looked into the small window.

At first, she saw nothing but a bright light. Then, as her eyes adjusted, she began to see a shape. It was human-sized with decidedly feminine curves, but it had no…

Astrid stumbled back from the dome and crashed into a stack of boxes, eyes wide and breathing heavily. She remembered what it was, now. Jenova. A headless Jenova.

As she sat on the ground trembling, she heard a voice say, "You shouldn't have looked."

Jumping to her feet, Astrid looked at the blue specimen tube with wide eyes, now seeing what was inside. Red XIII looked at her with a fixed stare. "Looking at it can hurt your mind."

Frowning, Astrid stood and walked over to the tube, "Hurt my mind? How?"

Red XIII shook his head and glanced at the dome, "It has… a powerful influence over all things that it can get a hold of. If you let it, it could take over your mind and make you do things." He stopped, then looked up at her, "You're a new experiment, aren't you?"

Astrid nodded, "Kinda. I've been here for five months, but he keeps me under lock and key. I'm Astrid."

"Nanaki." Red XIII nodded, "Though I would prefer it if you called me Red XIII. I don't want him to have anything to use against me, so I've been keeping myself quiet."

"Red XIII." She repeated, "Your specimen name."

Red XIII nodded, then quirked his head, "Why are you here?"

Astrid shrugged, "Just looking around."

"No." Red XIII shook his head, "I mean, why are you here, as an experiment?"

"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed, shaking her head, "Sorry. I'm the 'Multifaceted Ailment Experiment'."

Red XIII blinked, appalled, "He's using you for disease experiments?"

Astrid nodded, "Yeah. I guess I have an unusual immune system, so he's been trying out all kinds of viruses, bacteria, and poisons on me. Right now, he's working on mako poisoning." Red XIII shook his head and Astrid looked at him questioningly, "Why are you here?"

Red XIII shrugged, "Many things. Mainly because I am the last of my kind. He's using me to test various theories."

"I'm sorry." Astrid shook her head, "I know what it's like… to feel all alone." When he looked at her questioningly, she continued, "I am… from somewhere very far away from here. I was here with my brother, but he was taken away from me by someone. I made a deal with Shin-Ra, hoping they would help me, but so far all they've done is made me an experiment."

The feline nodded, then asked, "Who took your brother?"

Astrid set her jaw and clenched her teeth, "Sephiroth…"

There was a moment of silence, which Red XIII was about to break when voices began to echo through the halls. They both turned towards the entrance, watching as the shadows of the scientists and assistants poured in. Hojo's shadow came in last, more hunched than usual. He screamed and smacked an assistant as he walked by. Astrid shook her head, 'I'm in trouble.'

"I have to leave, Red XIII."

He nodded, turning back to her, "Yes, you do." He paused, then said, "There's an elevator over there." He pointed to her right with his paw, "Take it to the upper room, then cross the floor to the staircase and walk back down. If you're lucky, you should be able to make it back to the containment block and avoid Hojo without anyone noticing."

Astrid looked to her right and saw a flashing light where the elevator was supposed to be. 'It should be fairly empty up there right now…' She turned back to Red XIII and nodded, smiling, "Thank you, Red XIII."

He nodded in return, "Good luck, Astrid. I hope we see each other again."

"Don't worry," She called back, walking to the elevator, "I plan on coming back, whether Hojo likes it or not." And with that she was gone.

Managing to slip across the upper floor without getting caught, Astrid ran back to the containment block and slipped into her cell when the guard opened it for her. He didn't question why she had returned without an escort, and as she was still walking in he took out a radio and shouted he was coming, giving Astrid the idea he had been called to assist in the mako reactor blowout but had to wait for her to return.

After taking off her clothes and putting her pajamas back on, Astrid lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to calculate the time between the reactor blowout and the arrival of Aerith Gainsborough.


	7. Aerith Gainsborough

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Aerith Gainsborough)

It wasn't much time later that Astrid had company in the containment block, and the name of that company was Aerith. Astrid was happy to have seen her arrival, considering what she had to do to get the freedom to do so. Here're the basics of what happened…

The day after Astrid met Red XIII, Hojo sent for her to try another experiment. He hadn't seemed to notice that she had been gone the previous day, so she didn't push the matter by asking where he had been. Instead, she had asked for more freedom.

"Freedom, 2208?" Hojo looked up from his clipboard and raised an incredulous brow, "Freedom to do what?"

Ignoring the use of her experiment serial number, Astrid lowered her eyes and scuffed the floor with her foot, "I want to walk around a bit more, and outside of the containment block. Maybe be able to go down a few levels and go eat in the dining hall."

"Impossible," Hojo had said, looking back down at his papers, "You're a highly dangerous biological hazard, not some drone we keep here just because we feel like it. You're introduced to highly dangerous amounts of biomass every day you're being worked on, and we don't want to risk the health of the Shin-Ra employees or the rest of Midgar."

Astrid had refused to give up, "Then what about just in the lab? I mean, everyone who comes through here is decontaminated when they walk in and out, so what's the worst that could—"

"The worst that could happen, 2208," Hojo began, not bothering to look up, "Is some particles could escape into the elevator ventilation and infect the entire building. That is not a risk I am willing to take."

Then she had to play hardball. She had dropped the timid act and glared at him, "Then I refuse to cooperate until I get the freedom to walk around the upper levels."

Hojo had sighed, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, "We've been through this before, 2208. You may have gotten what you wanted last time, but that was only because I wasn't here to stop it. That situation will not happen again."

"It will if I make it." Astrid had said, eying the vials of viruses Hojo had arranged around the room. "I've built up immunity to all of these diseases. I trust my immune system. I wonder," She locked eyes with him, "I wonder if you trust yours?"

It had taken little further persuasion for Astrid to gain the freedom to walk around the lab and take the elevator down to the dining hall, but nowhere else. This had cost the lab untold amounts, since Hojo had had to order special decontaminating units for the lab and special security cameras to make sure that she didn't get off the elevator anywhere else.

After that final incident, Hojo had also ordered new cabinets to keep all of the samples under lock and key, so Astrid now had little else to threaten him with. But it hardly mattered. Astrid now had all she needed… at least for now. If she needed anything else, she could just find another way to threaten Hojo.

Anyway, the day Aerith arrived, Astrid was just getting released from that day's mako treatment. The decontamination unit hissed loudly as it was re-pressurized, and when the door popped open the elevator opened and Aerith walked out, accompanied by two guards.

Astrid blinked, tilting her head as they walked by. When Aerith looked at her, Astrid blinked and smiled, lifting her hand and waving. Aerith blinked, surprised, then smiled faintly and nodded. Then, the two guards halted and looked around the room. Astrid knew it really wasn't any of her business, but she couldn't help stopping and staring.

The guards just continued to look around, standing in front of the elevator for a good five minutes. The doors slid open and a lab assistant walked out, looking down at her papers. Not seeing the guards standing right in the way, she ran into them, knocking the papers out of her hands.

The guards panicked and jumped aside, dragging Aerith with them and apologizing profusely to the assistant, who just scowled and shook her head. They then began to question her, leading to her becoming more frustrated and dropping more papers as she had to raise her head to be heard over the humming of the decontaminator.

The lab assistant was about to scream at the guards when Astrid intervened, running forward and picking up some of the papers. "Need some help, Leanne?"

Leanne, the lab assistant, shook her head and sighed, "Me and everybody else on this floor. I need to report to Hojo for a diagnostic on the materia scan, and these idiots," She glared at the guards, "Don't know where the containment block is."

Nodding, Astrid stood and handed the papers to the assistant, "You go on and go to Hojo. I'll take them to the containment block."

"Are you sure?" Leanne asked, standing and taking the papers, "I thought now was about the time you headed down to the dining hall for lunch."

"It's fine." Astrid nodded, smiling, "I need to get my shoes, anyway."

"Thanks, Astrid. You're a life saver!" Leanne shouted, clutching her papers to her chest and running into the lab.

Shaking her head, Astrid smiled and turned to the two guards and the Centra. "Hello. My name is Astrid, Experiment Serial Number 2208, and I'll be your guide as we make our way to the containment block. Please refrain from wandering down any halls on your own, because I won't go back for you if you get lost."

The guards nodded, following Astrid close behind as she walked. After a few moments of tense silence, Astrid decided to break the ice.

"So, my guess is you two were stationed in Junon, right?"

The guards looked at each other, then looked at her back. "How did you know?" The one on Aerith's right asked.

Astrid smirked smugly, but gave her tone a light and airy sound as she replied, "Oh, everyone who works directly at the Shin-Ra headquarters knows this building forwards and backwards, and only those who transfer in from another city, like Junon, don't know their way around the floors."

"Oh." The same guard answered shortly. After a bit more silence, Astrid heard something fall and the guard shout, "Watch where you're going!"

Stopping, Astrid turned just in time to see Aerith, who had tripped over something and was on the ground, get kicked in the back by one of the guards. She winced, then shouted, "Hey!"

The guards stopped and looked up at her.

Coughing lightly, Astrid continued in a lighter tone with a smile on her face, "You two must be hungry. Why don't you leave her with me and head down to the dining hall for lunch. I'll make sure she gets to her cell."

The guards exchanged glances, then looked back at her. One of them hesitantly said, "I'm not sure we're allowed to do that…"

"Gosh, you two really did just transfer, didn't you?" Astrid asked, rolling her eyes, "Do you honestly think that Professor Hojo would let me walk around unguarded unless I had special privileges? Being one of the older volunteer experiments, I have seniority here." She left it at that, hoping the guards believed her lie.

"Uhh," They exchanged glances again. Then, as if it had been planned, one of their stomachs growled. They looked at Astrid sheepishly, a smug grin on her face. "Alight." The guard reluctantly relented, "You… won't tell…"

"Don't worry." Astrid smiled, waving her hand, "No one will hear a word of this."

"Thanks." The guards bowed and took off without another word.

When they were well gone, Astrid walked over to Aerith and knelt down, grabbing the woman under her armpits and helping her to her feet. "You alright?"

Aerith nodded, looking a bit disgruntled, "Yes, for the most part."

It was then Astrid noticed that the woman's wrists were bound behind her back. "Can I see your hands?"

Aerith hesitated, then nodded.

Astrid stepped behind Aerith and looked at the handcuffs that Aerith had been bound with. Considering who they were on, they weren't anything special; just standard issue binding cuffs for average insurgents. Easy to pick. It wasn't even two minutes before the locks snapped open and Aerith was rubbing her wrists gingerly.

"Thank you." Aerith said sincerely, smiling.

Astrid smiled bitterly and nodded, shoving the handcuffs in her pocket, "We prisoners of Hojo have to sick together."

"Prisoner?" Aerith asked, frowning, "I thought you were a volunteer?"

"Nah," Astrid shook her head, "That was just something I said to get the guards to trust me. I'm really being held here against my will, just like most of the other experiments here."

Aerith blinked, "But you walk around freely."

Astrid laughed uneasily, "Uhh… let's just say I managed to… ehem, _appeal_ to Hojo's _better nature_ and get a bit more freedom than most." When Aerith raised a brow, Astrid moaned, "That so just sounded wrong. Alright, putting it plainly, I threatened his wellbeing and he caved in to my demands."

"Ah." Aerith nodded, relief spreading across her face as she smiled. She then froze, "Wait… if you're walking around free, why haven't you tried to escape? Is it impossible?"

"Oh no, it's perfectly possible," Astrid assured the woman, knowing she was thinking of Cloud, "It's just… even if I could escape or get Shin-Ra to release me, I wouldn't."

"Why?"

Astrid shook her head and sighed, "Because the deal I made with the president would be nullified if I did."

Aerith blinked, "Deal?"

Shaking her head, Astrid mumbled, "I don't want to talk about it…" After a brief pause, she brightened and smiled, "Alright, I'm supposed to be taking you to the containment block, so let's go." She turned abruptly and led the way.

In the containment block, Astrid addressed the guard, "Is there a cell ready for a new inmate?"

The guard nodded, walking up to one of the doors and sliding a cardkey through the reader. The door buzzed, then slid open. Astrid turned and nodded to Aerith, who walked into the room and looked around.

The woman then turned to the teen, "What's going to happen now?"

Astrid shrugged, "I don't know. It depends on what Hojo has in store for you."

Aerith nodded, then paused. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but was cut off when the guard walked forward and slid the cardkey again.

"I'll come and see you!" Astrid said quickly before the door closed, getting one final glimpse of Aerith's oddly calm eyes as the woman nodded. Sighing, Astrid turned to the guard. "Lunch has already been served for the cells, hasn't it?"

The guard nodded, "Yeah, it has."

Frowning, Astrid asked, "If I bring up something for her from the dining hall, can I take it in to her?" When the guard eyed her skeptically, she rolled her eyes, "As if I could do anything. I'm under constant surveillance when I'm not on this floor, and there are too many people running around the lab…"

"Fine." The guard grunted. "But this'll be the only time."

Astrid nodded and smiled, eyes flashing as she turned to walk to her room. 'As if.'

After she slipped into her shoes, she took the elevator down to the dining hall and had a quick lunch, then loaded another tray with food. Making sure not to make eye contact with anyone who would stop her, Astrid hurried back through the lab and to the containment block, where the guard let her into the room and shut the door behind her.

Aerith was lying on her bunk and staring at the ceiling when the door opened, and she looked at Astrid with wide eyes when she saw the tray. Astrid laughed nervously, "Sorry. I wasn't sure what you liked, and dinner won't be served for another six hours, so I just…"

Aerith shook her head, smiling as the girl set the tray before her, "Thank you." She picked up a sandwich halve and nibbled at it, staring at Astrid curiously, "Why are you doing this?"

Astrid blinked, then shrugged, "I remember what it was like when I first came here. I was all alone, and I was in a lot of pain from being separated from my family and everyone I cared about. I don't want anyone else to have the experience I had."

Aerith nodded, finishing off the sandwich. She had eaten half of a fruit when she asked, "So, what are you here for?"

"I'm the labs prized 'Multifaceted Ailment Experiment'," Astrid replied, rolling her eyes, "Hojo has an odd infatuation with my immunity, so he likes to pump me full of bacteria and viruses to see how my body will react."

Choking on her drink, Aerith coughed for a few moments before she gasped, "Are you serious?"

Astrid nodded, "Yeah. Right now, we're going through the wonderful effects of mako poisoning."

"That's terrible…" Aerith muttered, wiping her mouth.

"Could be worse, I suppose," Astrid shrugged, "It was terrible a few months ago, but I've gotten use to it. I wouldn't be surprised if I hardly notice the side effects in a couple more months."

"How long have you been here?" The woman asked.

Astrid blinked, looking down at her hands and flicking her fingers, "Close to… six months, now."

"Six months…" Aerith whispered, appalled.

Astrid blinked, "Like I said; it could be worse."

Aerith shook her head. She paused, then began, "I don't mean to pry… but earlier you said that you hadn't escaped because you had made a deal with Shin-Ra…"

Astrid lowered her head and sighed, "Shin-Ra and I… I have information Shin-Ra wants, and Shin-Ra could give me something I wanted. We bargained my information for something that was taken from me, but Shin-Ra wasn't satisfied with what I told them. They think I have more information, so they're keeping me here. I'd escape… but if I did, I'm afraid Shin-Ra would break the contract and I'd never get back what I lost."

"What did you lose?"

"… My little brother…"

Aerith's mouth fell open slightly, but she was quick to close it and slipped off of her bed, wrapping a consoling arm around Astrid's shoulders. "I'm sorry. …What happened to him?"

Astrid clenched her hands tightly, "He was taken… by Sephiroth." Aerith gasped, making Astrid shake her head and sigh, "Please, don't say anything. I'm full aware that the odds of Marcus being alive are…," She gritted her teeth and looked at Aerith with determined eyes, "I have to believe he's alive. It's my fault Sephiroth has him, so I have to believe he's okay. And, as long as I don't run away, Shin-Ra will get him back for me."

Before either of them could say anything else, the guard knocked on the door, "Visiting hours are over. Time to get back to your cell, 2208."

Sighing, Astrid stood and walked to the door, stopping and turning back to Aerith, "I'll come and see you again."

Aerith nodded and stood. She walked over to Astrid and held out her hand, "I'm Aerith Gainsborough."

Astrid smiled and took her hand, shaking it, "Astrid Cray. It was nice to talk to you, Aerith."

Aerith smiled, "Come back soon."

"I will." Astrid stepped through the door, still smiling and waving as it closed. Sighing, she turned and walked passed the guard, grumbling, "If Hojo sends for me, I'm wandering around the lab." She then headed straight to the back. Not even glancing at the silver dome, Astrid walked over to Red XIII's specimen tube and sat down by it, speaking to the panther-like cat pacing inside. "Hey, Red XIII."

The cat looked at her and nodded, "Hello. I heard there's a new person in the containment block. Is it true?"

Astrid nodded, "Yeah. A woman named Aerith. I think Hojo plans on using her for breeding…"

Red XIII blinked, "Does she know?"

She shook her head, "It's just a speculation I have, so I don't want to unnecessarily unnerve her."

"That and you know that someone is coming for her."

Shocked, Astrid blinked, "What?"

Red XIII nodded and walked over to her, sitting down, "I can smell it. You think that someone is coming to save her, and you think that they'll succeed." When Astrid's jaw dropped, Red XIII's lips curled into a feral smile, "You know more than you let on, but you aren't good at hiding it from those with… sharper than average senses."

Knowing it was pointless to lie, Astrid nervously asked, "You aren't going to say anything, are you?"

The feline shook his head, still smiling, "Of course not. What you don't feel like saying is entirely your business. Just remember," His tone took a serious turn and he stopped smiling, "Eventually, people will find out that you're hiding something, and if it directly affects their lives they will demand to know."

"I know." Astrid mumbled, looking at her feet, "That's why I'm going to stick with Shin-Ra for as long as I can. It may hurt me, but at least I won't be able to hurt anyone else."

Red XIII nodded, then dropped the subject for less touchy topics, like their homes and families. They talked well into the day, and eventually the lab began to grow quiet. When they stopped talking for a moment, they both noticed that the lab was silent and most of the lights were turned off.

"Oops." Astrid laughed, "I guess we've been talking longer than we thought."

Red XIII nodded, "We can't help it if we can't see the sun."

"Yeah, well," Astrid stood and stretched, yawning, "I don't need to be able to see the sun to know I'm tired."

"Same here." Red XIII agreed, arching his back and yawning, himself.

Astrid smiled, "Night, Nanaki. See you later."

The cat smiled, curling up into a ball next to the glass, "Good night, Astrid."

It was a short time later Cloud, Barret, and Tifa were captured.


	8. Break of the Contract

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Break of the Contract)

"Don't worry, Cloud. I'm sure that we can trust her." Aerith assured Cloud for what had to be the thousandth time.

The entire group was all sitting in Astrid's cell, most regarding her suspiciously after she had managed to open their cells and bring them into hers. The guard wasn't there (he had some other work to handle on another floor), and Astrid had just managed to figure out how to trick the cardkey sliders into opening the door without a real cardkey.

Astrid, though, was already wishing she hadn't, because she now had to face the untrusting scrutiny of two members of AVALANCHE and a mercenary.

"If she's so awright," Barret began gruffly, "Then how was she able to open the doors to our cells?"

"For the last time," Astrid grumbled irritably, "I've been an experiment here for a quite some time, now. I've been learning how to trick the readers and scanners."

"Why would you have to learn that, anyway?" Tifa asked, "Why wouldn't they just give you the keys?"

Astrid scowled and glared at the woman, "Just because I can threaten Hojo into getting some of the things I want doesn't automatically mean I'm any freer than you are. It took me quite a bit of time and luck to get Hojo to crack, and I still can't go get my lunch without having six dozen high def cameras pointing my way."

"And what about your eyes?" Barret nearly shouted, "The only ones I've ever seen with eyes like those are people in SOLDIER, and spiky here could probably vouch for that!"

After throwing a frown Barret's way, Cloud turned back to Astrid and nodded, "It's true. I haven't seen the mako eyes anywhere else but in SOLDIER."

Astrid rolled her eyes, scoffing, "Is that your guy's problem? My eyes? Fine, I'll tell you." She leaned forward and glared at the three newcomers, "As an experiment, I'm used to study the effects of different illnesses on the human body. The most recent series of testing has been the effects of mako poisoning." She leaned back, scowling at their surprised faces, "Satisfied?"

"Mako poisoning?" Tifa muttered.

"It's true." Red XIII offered, defending his friend, "I've been here for about as long as she has, if longer, and I've been hearing reports every day for the past month about the progress they're making with the mako experimentation on experiment 2208."

"Which is my serial number here in Shin-Ra." Astrid finished, crossing her arms and huffing.

Just then, Astrid's door slid open and Hojo and several guards ran in, the scientist looking absolutely livid, "This is the final straw, 2208! You have crossed the line for the final time! I won't tolerate your antics any further!" As the guards rounded up Astrid's guests, Hojo pointed to the teen, "Take her to iso! We'll see how a few weeks in solitary confinement works to change her attitude."

Iso, predictably enough, was a Shin-Ra term for 'Isolation', and consisted of a special room in the back of the science lab that was soundproof, lightproof, and escape-proof. When the guards shoved her into the room and slammed the door shut, Astrid was automatically encased in darkness. The silence was so heavy that it settled on her like a thick blanket, pressing her into the ground and holding her there. There was no light, so no matter if she shut her eyes or opened them to their widest, her pupils couldn't adjust and bring her the comfort of finding some dimension to the room.

After a struggle against the pressing darkness and quiet, she stood and screamed, the sound automatically muffled and silenced. She reached out with hesitant hands, stumbling forward to look for a wall. When she found one, she used it as a guide to walk the full perimeter of the room. Shin-Ra had done a good job on this room; there wasn't a single seam where the door was, and she concluded that the room was circular and wide, so she never felt it curve. She could walk around forever and think that she had never reached the end of one wall. This was a room that could drive people crazy.

After releasing a sigh she hardly heard, Astrid walked back to where she thought the center of the room was and lay on her back, staring into the darkness to where the ceiling should have been. Having nothing better to do, Astrid thought about her past, before she had come to Gaia.

She thought about school, which she had officially never finished, basically taking the same status as a high school dropout. She thought about all of her friends, most of who were probably now going to college, or at least getting ready for it. She thought about her mom and dad, who probably thought their children had died in the fire, and how they would blame themselves, probably thinking it was the faulty heater that had caused the blaze. She thought about her brother, who was here, in Gaia, and probably so different… if he were still alive.

What would Sephiroth do to him? What had he done to him?

If he was still alive, Marcus would be eleven now. How would it have changed him, being with Sephiroth all this time? Would he be mentally stable? Would he still remember her?

Sometime during her thinking session, Astrid's eyes slid shut and she fell asleep.

Something woke Astrid and she jumped to her feet, eyes darting back and forth. The isolation room was now full of light, revealing the white circular walls and the hard, white tile floor. Who had turned the lights on?

"Astrid."

Astrid spun around to face the door, eyes widening at who was standing in it. "Marcus?!"

His hair had grown out so it skimmed his shoulders, the bright blonde it had once been now faded by a grey tone. His skin was paler than she remembered, and his eyes were a brighter green than they used to be. 'Mako…'

As Marcus walked over to her, she could see he was now almost as tall as her. He regarded her with shallow, indifferent eyes, "Hello, big sister."

Tears welled up in her eyes, barely noticing how he was looking at her, "Marcus…" She ran at him and pulled him into a hug, crying into his shoulder. When he didn't hug her back and flinched under her she pulled away, looking at him. She saw him scowling at her and frowned, "Marcus? What's wrong?"

His scowl deepening, Marcus pushed her away, slapping her hands aside, "Don't touch me, filth."

Astrid held her hands to her chest, eyes wide, "Wha?"

Marcus shook his head and chuckled, "Simple-minded creature. It's surprising and disgusting that I used to look up to you."

"Marcus…" Astrid murmured, shaking her head, "What's happened to you?"

"Master Sephiroth," Marcus began, his eyes lighting up with pride and arrogance, "Has opened my eyes to my true potential." He threw her a scalding glare, "A potential that you and everyone that I used to call 'family' was holding me back from."

"What are you talking about?!" Astrid exclaimed.

"What am I talking about?" Marcus mocked, laughing, "I'll show you what I'm talking about!" He let out an angry cry and struck her in the chest with the palm of his hand.

The next second, Astrid was flying backwards, crossing the room in no time flat and slamming into the curved wall. She heard the wall crack and felt it give way, her body sinking into it slightly. Groaning, she slid down onto the floor, bits of paint and the material that made up the room raining down on her head.

Her breathing became ragged, something rattling in her chest. Weakly, she looked up at the door, vision fading. She saw Marcus's silhouette in the doorway, heard him laugh.

"Don't worry, dear _sister_." He spat, "I have the unpleasant feeling that we will meet again soon, so just have a little patience."

She tried to lift her hand, but none of her muscles were responding, her body feeling like lead. 'Marcus… come back…' She wanted to cry when his silhouette turned and walked into the white light beyond the door. As he faded, her head fell and her vision failed. 'Marcus…'

Something woke Astrid and she jumped to her feet, eyes darting back and forth. This time, though, she was back in the middle of the room and faced nothing but darkness. She turned to the door, but there was nothing but darkness, again. No light. No white walls. No door. No Marcus.

She shook her head and sighed, "A dream, then."

Then, the lights flickered on, bathing the room with a red light. When the red light was bright, it began to fade, growing bright again and fading again, bright and fade, over and over again. Somewhere, and intercom crackled, a cool female voice speaking. "_Emergency. Emergency. All personnel evacuate Shin-Ra Headquarters immediately._" The voice ceased, then returned. "_State your name and reason._"

Astrid blinked and looked up at the ceiling. Was it talking to her?

"_Inhabitant of Isolation Room 1, state your name and reason._"

"Uhh…" Astrid shook her head and answered, "My name is Astrid Cray, Experiment Serial Number 2208. I am the Multifaceted Ailment Experiment. I was placed here for breaking the rules Professor Hojo laid out for me. I'm… uh… not sure when I was supposed to be released…"

There was a moment of silence, then the cool female voice returned. "_Information and reason verified. Experiment 2208, please evacuate the Shin-Ra Headquarters and report to Professor Hojo, or another member of the Board of Directors. You are now being released._" With that, the intercom crackled into silence and something popped and hissed.

Astrid turned to the door as it opened, glancing one last time at the ceiling before running out the door. What she met in the hall stopped her dead in her tracks. Blood. Everywhere. All over the floor and up the walls. And bodies. The bodies of two soldiers, who she assumed had been assigned to watch her. Their bodies were slashed to the bone on their backs, and she didn't want to find out what their fronts looked like. She just shook her head and covered her mouth and nose with her hands, stumbling passed them and down the hall.

After managing to find her way back to the containment block, Astrid stumbled over the bodies waiting for her there and leaned against the door to Aerith's room heavily, which opened automatically to her touch. Ignoring the unlocked door, she staggered to Aerith's bed and fell against it.

Aerith shot into a sitting position, staring down at Astrid with wide eyes. "Astrid? I thought you were…" She trailed off and gasped, seeing the bloody footprints that Astrid had made on the sterile, clean floor. Aerith jumped out of her bed and grasped the shocked teen, "Astrid?! Are you hurt?! Astrid? Astrid!"

Breathing heavily, Astrid looked at Aerith with wide, wild eyes. "Something happened…"

"Wha—"

Astrid shot forward and grabbed Aerith's shoulders tightly, shaking the woman, "Something happened! The building is on high alert, the guards are dead, and there's blood everywhere!"

"Dead?" Aerith whispered. She pulled away from Astrid and walked to the door, looking outside. Astrid turned to her and stared as Aerith looked up and down the hall, gasping at the body of the guard. Shaking her head, she murmured, "I need to get Cloud" then walked out.

Pulling herself back to her feet shakily, Astrid walked out of the room and watched Aerith open the doors to her friend's cells and wake them, the whole party spilling into the hall in seconds. Astrid leaned against the wall heavily, giving everyone a perfect view of the blood and corpse.

Barret swore, Tifa gasped, and Cloud shook his head. Red XIII walked up to Astrid and nuzzled her hand, "Astrid? What happened?"

When she felt the whole group looking at her, Astrid lowered her head, shaking it. "I… I don't…"

"You do." Red XIII said softly yet firmly, "You have to tell us what happened."

The dream of Marcus jumped back into her mind, making Astrid shake her head even harder. "NO! No, it wasn't him!"

"Who, Astrid?" Red XIII demanded. "Tell me."

Shaking, Astrid looked down into Red XII's eye, whispering, "Marcus…"

The feline blinked and balked.

Astrid saw this and started shaking her head again, "No. NO!" Then, something else came to her mind. "The Jenova containment dome!" With that, she turned and started running. Hearing the footfalls of the others behind her, she wildly thought, 'No, I can prove it! I can prove that it wasn't Marcus!'

At the dome, the door was ripped off and the fluids were spilled everywhere, another bloody body nearby.

When the others arrived, Barret bellowed, "That THING got out?!"

Cloud shook his head, muttering, "Jenova…"

Aerith looked at Astrid, who was staring transfixed at the dome. "Astrid? What happened?" When Astrid looked at her, Aerith shook her head, "How did your shoes get bloody? How did you get out of the isolation chamber?"

Astrid turned her head slowly, looking at Aerith. Then, without saying anything, she turned and walked passed the party, heading back to the isolation chamber. When they got there, the company was surprised by the carnage. Inside the room, the light was still flashing red. It was then Astrid noticed something she hadn't before. On the wall opposite the door, a whole circle had been broken and sunk into the wall, black lacework cracks fading and amplifying with the dimming and brightening red light. The place she had struck in her dream…

"…The hell happened there?" Barret grumbled.

"Astrid," Red XIII said slowly, looking up at his friend, "Did Marcus visit you?"

The whole group looked at her, her eyes remaining on the cracked wall.

"Astrid?"

She blinked and looked at Red XIII, who shook his head, "Did Marcus visit you?"

Astrid stared at him for a moment, then nodded. Aerith gasped.

The other three looked between them, confused.

"Who's Marcus?" Barret demanded.

Astrid clenched her hands and Red XII and Aerith lowered their eyes. Then, Astrid shook her head and looked at the party, "We have to go back to the containment block."

They blinked at her rapid change, then frowned, Tifa asking, "Why?"

"We need to get your weapons." Astrid answered, walking passed them again and leading the way back to the cells. Once there, she walked into her cell and grabbed her bag and hoisting it over her shoulder. She had a feeling she wouldn't be staying in this cell again…

Back outside, the party had finish equipping themselves with their weapons and armors and were ready to leave. This time, they didn't need her to lead; they only needed to follow the blood. The three trails of blood (one from the dome, one from the containment block, and one from isolation) all converged into one, leading up the stairs. They crossed several floors following this trail of blood until it led them to the top floor, where it abruptly ceased at the stairs.

Astrid looked up the stairs and to the only door at the top, shaking her head when she realized where the door led, "President Shinra's office…" She ran up the stairs, the group following close behind.

The scene inside was…

Astrid clenched her jaw tightly at the sight before her, the metallic tang of blood in the air. President Shinra sat in his chair, his body slumped over his desk, with a great katana sticking out of his back.

"President Shinra…" Shaking her head, Astrid walked over to him, walking behind his desk and reaching over his body to check for a pulse. She drew back and sighed, "Nothing."

"Shinra's dead?!" Barret exclaimed, running forward to get a closer look at the corpse.

Tifa turned to Cloud and tilted her head, "Cloud… is it him?"

Cloud nodded, "This is definitely the work of Sephiroth."

Something shifted behind one of the pillars and all attention turned to it. A balding head peeked out from behind the pillar, then squealed and ducked back out of sight.

"Palmer!" Astrid shouted.

Palmer's head peeked back out, turning towards Astrid, "Ah! Miss Cray! I wasn't expecting you and your… company." He gulped and laughed when he saw the others were armed, "New friends?

"Of a sort." Astrid grumbled. She then took a step towards the pillar, making Palmer squeak and run out from behind it. "Hey!"

The man ran for the door, only to be stopped by Barret. He ran towards the other door, but Red XIII and Cloud were in his way. Palmer looked back and forth fearfully, then turned and ran at Astrid, throwing himself at her feet and wrapping his arms around her legs, "Please don't kill me!"

"Jeez, Palmer!" Astrid screeched, kicking the man away, "We aren't going to kill you! We just want to know what happened." She frowned when he started whimpering, "Pull yourself together and quit blubbering! You're a member of the Shin-Ra Board of Directors, for the love of mako!" When he didn't stopped, she growled and knelt down in front of him, taking him by the lapels of his coat, "What happened here?"

"It was Sephiroth!" Palmer wailed, covering his head with his hands, "Sephiroth and some boy! They came in here, said a few things, then…" He trailed off, his eyes darting to his former boss's corpse.

"Do you remember what was said?" Astrid demanded. When he whimpered, she shook him, "Answer me, damn you!"

"I don't remember!" Palmer cried, shaking his head, "Something about a reunion!"

Scowling, Astrid threw the man away from her and stood, glaring at Shinra's corpse. She already knew about the 'Reunion', so she didn't care about that. She wanted to know what was going on with her brother…

Suddenly, Palmer was skittering away and heading towards the back door. Frowning, Astrid looked out the glass windows and watched as a helicopter flew in, heading for a landing pad just outside.

"Let's go!" Cloud shouted, running out with the rest of the party following.

Sighing, Astrid went after them.

Outside, they just managed to see Palmer crawl into the helicopter and Rufus jump out. Astrid heard the others whispering to each other about the young man, but she ignored this and nodded to him respectfully as he walked up. A bit young and arrogant he may be, but he was now the president of Shin-Ra…

"Only 'cause your dad's dead!"

Astrid blinked and shook her head. Apparently the group was thinking along the same lines she was.

"Of course." Rufus's smooth voice answered, his blonde hair falling out of place as he shrugged.

"You don't seem like you're too injured about the whole ordeal, Rufus." Astrid observed, quirking a brow, "Why is that?"

Rufus smirked and flicked his hair back, "My father was a weak leader, depending on money to get him where he wanted to go. I plan on running Shin-Ra differently; I plan on using fear to control the people."

"Sounds like you've put some thought into this." Astrid commented dryly, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg, "I assume you're also a bit relieved that Sephiroth took out your father for you, eh?"

"Are we here to honor my informal inauguration?" Rufus sighed, "Or are we here to accuse me of conspiring to commit patricide?" He looked at Astrid and frowned, "I don't see why you're still defending him. You're free to go, after all."

Astrid blinked, "What? …But I thought I was supposed to remain in Hojo's custody until you all got the information you wanted out of me? And now you're just going to let me go?"

"Your information is no longer needed." Rufus curtly replied. "I am now insisting that you leave the Shin-Ra premises."

"Th-then…," Astrid stuttered, shaking her head, "How do I know that Shin-Ra will uphold the contract?!"

"Contract?" Rufus repeated, smirking, "My father is dead, Astrid. The contract is null."


	9. Escaping Pursuit

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Escaping Pursuit)

Astrid stood back numbly and watched the scene unfold, taking no note of what was being said.

Her contract with Shin-Ra was null. They wouldn't be helping her get her brother back.

When a rain of bullets came flying her way, Astrid sighed and stepped out of the way calmly, still taking no note of what was being said. Then, Aerith appeared out of nowhere and grabbed a hold of her arm, dragging her back inside the building and down the stairs.

What was she going to do now? Sure, Shin-Ra would start looking for Sephiroth now, but it didn't matter. Rufus recognized her contract with his late father as null, so they weren't going to save Marcus. If anything, Shin-Ra would kill him.

On the elevator, Barret, Aerith, and Red XIII engaged a flying machine in combat, but Astrid just sat back and watched.

How was she expected to save her brother? Both Cloud's party and Rufus's henchmen would be after Sephiroth, and no matter what Marcus believed now, he was only human. How long would he be able to keep himself alive? Would Sephiroth save, or even help him? Astrid highly doubted it.

"ASTRID!!"

Aerith's voice snapping her out of her stupor for a moment, Astrid ducked under the bullets the battle chopper had shot at her and rolled forward, grabbing a grenade Barret had strapped to his belt as she rolled passed and pulling the pin. When she was back in a crouching position, Astrid stood and chucked the grenade at the machine, aiming so that it landed near one of its rotating stabilizing blades on its back.

When it went off, the explosion blew the rotating blades to shrapnel and the machine fell off course, slamming into the side of the Shin-Ra building and shattering glass. The screeching of metal on metal deafened them as the overhead lifting fans went into overdrive, trying to compensate for the loss of its rear fan. All it succeeded in doing, though, was seriously damaging its blades against the metal framing of the building.

As if it knew it would soon no longer be functional, the machine turned all of its guns onto the foursome, preparing for one final attack.

That it never got a chance to finish.

An angry bellow tore from Barret's throat and he raised his gun arm, pointing it at the machine. A bulb of molten liquid built up at the center of the gun, growing and expanding so much Barret had to support his arm with his other arm so he didn't loose it. After taking a few shaky seconds to aim, Barret roared and released the attack, the molten metal shooting through the air and landing on the machine, spraying searing droplets everywhere and melting whatever it touched.

The smell of burning metal and plastic filled the air as the machine began to crackle and whine, its appendages going haywire. It then sputtered to an abrupt stop and started to descend, falling faster than the elevator.

"GET READY TO JUMP!" Barret bellowed, turning to aim his gun at the building.

The other three followed his lead and faced the building, crouching.

After a few more seconds, the elevator had reached the lobby and Barret shot his gun, the glass shattering. They jumped through and landed on the lobby floor just as the machine crashed into the ground, exploding and sending a wave of heat and glass rolling into the building. They pressed themselves against the ground, covering their heads with their hands and waiting for the heat wave to pass.

Then, just as they stood up, two Shin-Ra soldiers ran at them and attacked. Noticing that one of them was wielding a longsword, Astrid shouted to the team as they started to fight, "Get me that blade!"

When the sword-wielder was killed, Red XIII ran to the copse and grabbed soldier's sword by the hilt, turning quickly and flinging it in Astrid's direction. Three more soldiers appeared as Astrid scrambled for the blade, one of them falling on her with a sword of his own. Astrid had just grabbed the hilt and raised the sword when the soldier was right in front of her, and an unexpected weight pressed down on her arms as she stood.

The soldier froze and Astrid looked down at the sword in her hands. It was larger than what she was used to, so she was holding it with both hands, blade thrust outward. Halfway up, the blade disappeared into the soldier's stomach, a line of blood already running down the fuller. The blood began to build up at the cross-guard and drip over the edges, and by that time Astrid's hands were shaking.

"Astrid! Behind you! Attack!!"

Her brain turning off, Astrid watched from the background as her body obeyed Red XIII's command, her hands ripping the sword out of the soldier in front of her and turning to parry the blow of another sword wielder. She watched as her body, remembering years of fencing better than her mind did, ducked and weaved the blows, awkwardly thrusting the longsword in her hands at her attackers. Things would be so much easier if she had an epée or a rapier, instead…

By the time they had felled all of the soldiers, more were building up at the front door, trying to move the destroyed machine so they could get inside.

They all huddled in the center of the lobby, eyes darting around for danger or an escape. When they hadn't moved for three minutes, Astrid snapped back into her body and growled, "Now what?!"

Beside her, Aerith shook her head and looked back at the stairs, "We're waiting for Cloud and Tifa…"

As if on cue, Tifa came barreling down the stairs, shouting as she ran, "Let's go!"

They followed her as she ran behind a glass display and started messing with the car, Aerith protesting, "But, but what about—"

"Cloud's on his way!" Tifa cut in, bending under the dash of the car and messing with the wires, "He said we should get going and he'll meet us." Then, the car roared to life and she jumped into the drives seat, "Everybody in!"

Aerith ran around and jumped into the passenger seat, leaving Barret, Red XIII, and Astrid to squeeze into the back. Barret had just slammed the tailgate shut when the vehicle jumped forward and crashed into the glass wall around it, shattering the barrier and spraying the three in the back with shards of crystal rain.

Not stopping or slowing, Tifa drove the car straight at the doors, leaving burning tire tracks on the lobby floor. At that moment, a second engine came roaring down the staircase, Cloud astride a motorcycle peeling down the steps and alongside the truck. His motorcycle put on a burst of speed and broke through the glass doors before they did, scattering the soldiers on the other side who had managed to finally move the machine out of the way.

They tore down the highway with enemy motorcycles in pursuit, Cloud wielding the Buster Sword and slicing at any who came too close to the car. When one motorcycle managed to slip past Cloud as he was taking care of a particularly difficult enemy, Astrid heaved her longsword over the side of the truck bed and swung it at him, bashing the motorcyclist in the helmet and sending him careening across the road.

Palms sweaty and hilt slipping, Astrid gritted her teeth and yanked the sword back inside of the truck, slightly afraid of loosing her only weapon. As they sped along the highway, the road became less and less developed. Astrid finally flipped onto her knees and peeked over the top of the truck, her eyes widening when she saw what was coming.

"EDGE!!"

Tifa heard Astrid and saw the end of the road and slammed on the breaks, yanking the wheel to one side.

Astrid felt herself jerked to the side as the truck jolted, her feet loosing purchase on the truck bed and her body flying through the air. She was falling out.

She saw the edge of the truck shoot passed her and saw the blacktop below, waiting. The view of the road grew closer and closer, and she could almost make out the individual treads of the tire spinouts when she was yanked back into the air and held in place, hovering just above the asphalt.

When the car finally pulled to a stop, Astrid was yanked higher into the air.

"You awright, kid?"

She twisted her head to see Barret looking at her with a flicker of genuine concern. He was holding her by the back of her pants, fingers clamped under and over her waistline.

"Just fine." She answered, waving unsteadily as he lowered her to her feet. After she regained her balance, she turned and smiled to him, "Thanks, Barret."

He shook his head and jumped out of the truck, grunting as he landed on the ground, "We ain't out of the woods, yet."

Cloud's motorcycle came to a screaming stop as he braked and banked, jumping off to let it slide away and crash into the cement guardrail. Yanking his sword out of the sheath on his back, he nodded to everyone, "Get ready."

When Astrid heard the sounds of the weapons around her scraping, she looked down at the sword in her hands. The sword that was still stained with blood. Shuddering, she almost dropped it in disgust. She had actually… killed people with it. Though it had all been entirely self defense, she had still killed people. No label she or anyone else slapped on it could change the fact that people were dead because of her.

"Astrid." She looked up at Cloud, who was staring at her gravely, "Take this." He tossed something to her.

Blinking, she reached out and caught the shimmering ball, opening her hand and looking at it. It wasn't much bigger than a shooter in marbles, but it shone with an iridescent green and an underlying power. Even as she held it in her hands, she let something in her brain crack and sizzle, and everything suddenly had an electric blue hue. As if by instinct, she knew that what she held was 'Lightning' materia.

Though materia and mako energy were fundamentally the same thing, she could feel a distinct difference between the materia she held and the feeling she remembered of mako. Mako felt wild and boundless, a sort of bursting and unspecific power that burned her body and left her mind scarred, blank, and scattered.

But, when she held the materia, it was like an entirely different feeling. Materia was solid and whole; it existed for only one purpose and it knew what that one purpose was; it had boundaries; it held her together as she spread her consciousness through it and ran into the boundaries. True, it held power, but it was tamed power; usable power.

Guided by the materia, Astrid adjusted her grip on her sword and held it up, looking at the part of the fuller that was closest to the hilt. There were three empty holes there, two of them connected by a thin strip of glassy-looking material. Materia still directing her hand, she popped the materia into one of the holes, watching as a thin film of green energy hazed over the hole to hold the orb in place. Then, the blade crackled and sparked, a blue haze shining from where the blade left the hilt all the way down to the point.

"Astrid." She tore her eyes away from the blade and looked down at Red XIII, who was nuzzling her hand, "If you don't think you…"

"I'm fine, Red." She cut in, forcing a smile, "I don't have to worry about sucking up to Shin-Ra anymore, so I'm going to give them hell for what they've done to me."

The feline nodded, crouching down, "I'll stay by you, anyway."

Smiling sincerely, she muttered, "Thanks, Nanaki."

A far-off rumble attracted the attention of everyone, and they all looked up to see a large, menacing machine tearing at them, barreling passed the bodies of the fallen soldiers and their motorcycles. Even as it approached them, a mini machinegun popped out of the top and started shooting at them.

Flinching, Astrid lifted her sword in front of her face, the blue energy expanding slightly to fend off a few of the bullets. She heard the machine screech to a stop in front of them.

Seeing that it was entirely mechanical and not directly driven by humans, Astrid raised her sword and stared at the blade, focusing on the blue energy that surrounded it. The knowledge that the materia had given her surfaced to the front of her mind, where it guided her to seize it and use it.

Without saying a word, Astrid focused on the machine and slashed her sword in a falling arc, leaving behind a band of blue light. From that band shot a single bolt of electricity, which arched into the air and fell down onto the machine, short-circuiting the mini machinegun, and probably several other areas.

It was that simple and clean. No words, no special movements other than swinging the sword, no summoning power from a greater deity; just grasping the power and using it. Unfortunately, because using the magic was so cut and dry, it led one to… overuse it a bit.

Astrid used the same spell a total of six times before she found the magic slipping away and she suddenly no longer knew how to summon it. She tried for two more minutes before she had to jump back and dodge being plowed into the ground by the machines spiked rollers.

"You're out of MP, Astrid!" Red XIII shouted, using a 'Fire' spell. "Without MP, your mind can't make the connection between the materia and the magic!"

"What do I do, then?!" She screamed, dropping to the ground as another mini machinegun emerged and shot at her. She hissed when one of the bullets grazed her shoulder, opening a rivet of blood. She looked up when her shoulder was encased with a green light, the wound sewing back together.

Aerith smiled fleetingly at her friend, saying, "Your weapon is still equipped with the 'Lightning' materia, so your attacks will still have some lightning power, just not as much."

"Oh." Astrid murmured sheepishly, standing. Throwing a smiled Aerith's way, she ran passed her and yelled "Thanks, Aerith", then leapt at the machine and brought her sword crashing down on one of the moving belts, which sputtered and froze at the electric flow from the blade.

With one side of the machine no longer functioning, it was only a matter of time before the team managed to beat it into nothing, leaving behind a pile of sizzling scrap metal.

Pulling a length of wire from the back of the truck, Barret made an escape rope and dropped it over the edge of the road, tying it off on a jutting piece of metal. After a nauseating descent, they all gathered at the edge of Midgar, looking out at the vast plot of biological zero around them.

Astrid shook her head, "Shin-Ra's been draining mako out here for so long, there's no fertile land left on top for anything to grow, not even weeds." She sighed and smiled bitterly, "Makes our decision to go all the clearer."

"'Our decision'?" Tifa asked, turning to frown at the teen, "I wish I could make this sound less rude, but since when were you included?"

Frowning right back, Astrid shrugged, "Since you drug me into this."

"An' how exactly did we do that?!" Barret exclaimed, glaring at her.

"By deciding to go after Sephiroth." Astrid answered simply.

Cloud crossed his arms, "And what does Sephiroth have to do with you?"

"More than you think, Cloud." Red XIII cut in, tossing his head impatiently, "I don't think this is the best place to discuss our reasons in depth. I, at least, am only traveling with you until my hometown, if you even go that far. You all," He nodded to Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Aerith, "Are after Sephiroth, like Astrid is. For now, let's just leave it at that and get going."

"Fine." Cloud snorted. He glanced at Barret, "Where are we headed?"

Barret grumbled and pointed northeast. "There's a small town in that direction called 'Kalm'. We should probably get some supplies there before we set out. There's a lot of ground between the Midgar area and the next town."

That decided, they took a few moments to gather themselves before setting off, not knowing what lay ahead but not looking back at what they left behind.


	10. Chaos in Kalm

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Chaos in Kalm)

Beyond a few encounters with beasts, the walk to Kalm was largely uneventful, giving the company a lot of time to think. For Astrid, this meant plenty of time for brooding and reflection.

By now, she had accepted the fact that the 'dream' encounter between herself and her brother was much more than a dream. Not only did she have the proof of the collapsed hole in the iso wall back at Shin-Ra, but she also had the proof of a large bruise she could feel growing on her back.

Taking that into consideration, of all of the reactions she had expected from her brother at meeting him again after their long separation, anger and disgust were definitely two she hadn't considered. Then again, she also hadn't expected to see the dramatic changes in him that she had. His looks, demeanor, power… just what had Sephiroth and Jenova done to him?

And he had said something about his inner 'potential'… What did that mean? Could Sephiroth have taken him because of some power that had already existed in him?

…No. That couldn't be it. It was impossible. After all, both Astrid and Marcus had been born and raised on Earth; a planet which had no natural power like Gaia did. People born on Earth didn't have the same potential for power like people on Gaia did… right?

When they finally arrived in Kalm two days later, Astrid was bone tired and thoroughly confused, and still caught in the muddled thoughts that were swimming around in her head.

They arrived at nightfall and, contrary to what the game may have portrayed, checked into the inn silently and collapsed onto whichever bed was free. Astrid vaguely remembered thinking that perhaps her presence in the game had changed things a bit, but brushed it aside tiredly and dropped into a heavy sleep.

She woke the next morning to find everyone gone. She sat up groggily and stumbled into the bathroom, peeling off the clothes she had been wearing for three days and jumping into the shower, thoroughly scalding herself and scrubbing herself raw with the complementary soap and shampoo.

When she looked at herself in the mirror and found a few places bleeding slightly, she decided to try to start weaning herself off of the bathing habits she had developed in Shin-Ra, mainly deciding to take it a bit easier on the scrubbing. After she had finally been allowed to bathe more frequently, she had developed a bit of a phobia about having it taken away and began to scrub herself too thoroughly, but now that she thought about it, it was stupid to continue doing if she was free.

Putting on a new sweater and pants, she walked back into the room using a towel to dry her hair. It was as she was repacking her bag she noticed something white and square glaring at her from the bedside table near the window. It was a letter from Aerith:

_Hey, Astrid!_

_We all went into town to buy some supplies, which is probably going to take all day, so, when you wake up, feel free to wander the town on your own. There's some money in the bag, but not a lot. Spend it wisely and make sure to be back to the room by sunset. Hope to see you around!_

_Aerith_

Beside the letter was a small bag of wadded bills and coins, all covered in writing Astrid couldn't read. But, she had expected this development. After all, she had never been able to read the characters that had spelled out the Shin-Ra logo, so why should she expect to be able to read the characters on Gaian money? She was just glad they all spoke the same language, or she'd really be screwed.

Grabbing the little bag of money and shoving it into her pocket, Astrid ran back into the bathroom and scrubbed her dirty clothes in the bathtub, laying them out on a chair in the small alcove back in the room to dry. She then grabbed a jacket and tied it around her waist, slinging her sword into it before walking out of the room.

The town of Kalm lived up to its name; all of the people were nice and neighborly when you spoke to them, and oddly enough no one seemed to mind when you walked into their house. This, of course, was only something Astrid learned from firsthand experience when a small child grabbed her hand and drug her through the front door of someone's private residence.

Astrid immediately began apologizing profusely, but the woman who had met her at the doorway just smiled and shook her head, "It's perfectly fine, dear. Few people in Kalm are touchy about visitors just walking in, so don't worry!"

This was something Astrid found vastly unnerving and odd, but she just accepted it and explored the house, which was something the woman had actually insisted that she do. It paid off, though, in an odd sense when Astrid wandered up a long staircase and found a box at the top. She hadn't even touched it when it popped open and spat a silver gun at her.

After panicking and trying to put the gun back in, the box promptly opened itself yet again and spat the gun back out at her. Astrid must have engaged the box in reverse tug-of-war for about five minutes before she gave up and trudged downstairs, where she promptly turned the gun over to the woman.

The woman, though, just smiled and handed the gun back to Astrid, "I've never seen that weapon in all my life. If you found it, you keep it."

Despite her protesting, Astrid ended up walking out of the house with a gun in her possession and a friendly shout to "Feel free to come again". Astrid had the oddest feeling she would never be going back… _ever_.

After being practically yanked into five more houses and harassed in the friendliest manner ever to explore and take whatever she found, Astrid swore she would never willingly visit Kalm again. 'Honestly, what kind of town has a twenty foot high concrete wall around it where the citizens basically threaten you with kindness into stealing their stuff?!'

… Obviously, whatever kind of town Kalm was.

What were even odder were the stores. As soon as she walked into a store with a picture of a sword crossing a gun over it, someone leapt at her from behind the counter and grabbed her shoulders, shouting in her face, "This Is A Weapons Shop!" The person then ran away and jumped back behind the counter, looking at her with a calm smile as if nothing had happened.

Taking a few quick moments to recover, Astrid walked up to the counter hesitantly and asked, "Do you have a catalogue of your sword inventory?"

The man smiled, answering, "Yes, we do." He then brought out a book from behind the counter and dropped it onto the countertop, still acting as if he had never screamed in her face.

Laughing nervously at the still smiling man, Astrid dragged the catalogue closer to her side of the counter and opened it, hunching over so she couldn't see the man. The whole thing was organized very neatly, putting the swords into two categories: single handed and double handed. They were then sub sectioned alphabetically, then classed in ascending order of strength.

Deciding to skip the whole double handed category completely, Astrid looked for anything that looked somewhat simple to handle under the one handed category. When she shifted, the hilt of her current longsword brushed against her arm and she couldn't help but look at it. It wasn't that she didn't like it, it really was a good sword, but she just wasn't trained to use that kind of blade. Too long and too heavy, which made for awkward swinging motions and little to no maneuverability.

Sighing, she turned back to the Book and flipped through the pages, eyes skimming over the various drawings. When she reached the end of the end of the section, she frowned. She hadn't seen a single…

"Is anything wrong?"

She looked up and screamed, nearly falling backwards when the man reached across the counter and grabbed a hold of her arm. He was, like, not even three inches from her face!

"Uhh…" Astrid began unsteadily, voice wavering, "Could you please…" When the man cocked his head, she murmured, "Let me go?" The man's hand was gone in an instant, his smile never fading. Getting more disturbed by the minute, Astrid shook her head and decided to get her business done as quickly as possible, "Do you happen to have an epée?"

"What's an E-P?" The man asked, smile fading ever-so slightly.

Frowning, Astrid asked, "A rapier, then?"

The man's smile faded a bit more, "Raping whom?"

"Never mind." Astrid sighed, shaking her head. She then took the longsword out of its jacket/sheath and set it on the counter, "Do you have anything smaller than this?"

The man looked down at the sword, tilting his head. He then grabbed the hilt and lifted it, using the thumb and forefinger of his other hand to measure the length of the blade, "…Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five." He tilted the blade back and forth a bit, "Roughly four pounds, possibly a bit lighter…" He set the sword down, a look of real thought crossing his face. He then looked back up, smiling again, "In swords, we have nothing shorter or lighter than this."

Astrid deadpanned, "You're kidding…"

The man shook his head, "Nope!"

"Ugh!" Astrid slumped over, forehead meeting the cool metal of the longsword. 'Great. Just great. First, this world has freaky ideas about informed consent, then it has freaky boundaries between 'hospitality' and 'intrusion', now there is no such thing as a rapier. This… sucks.' "Can I just get an estimate for a scabbard for it, then, please?"

"Ten gil." The man answered automatically.

Astrid laughed hollowly, snapping her fingers, "Wrap it up to go."

She stood outside of the shop a moment later, unwrapping the scabbard and sliding the sword into it, taking off her jacket and buckling the belt that the scabbard had come attached to. She then wrapped the other belt around her waist, not bothering to put the leather through the belt loops (which were already being used by the longsword belt), buckling the belt and sliding the silver gun into its holster.

Astrid already knew that the gun was intended to be for Vincent, and since she had no idea if he would actually want it or not she decided to hold on to it. Besides, it might come in useful as a backup weapon if she ran into a bad situation… which she honestly hoped didn't happen. The gun was terribly heavy and she hated the kick that all guns had, be it a handgun or a rifle/shotgun.

Sighing, she moved on to the next shop, which she assumed to be a materia shop from the picture of the orb on the sign hanging above the door. Astrid thanked her stars that the curator of this shop wasn't insane like the last one was. Instead, he was just a bit… paranoid.

The man (who was kind of balding and wore uber thick glasses) peeked up from behind the counter as Astrid walked around the shop, looking at the dusty orbs in the display cases. When she stood at the counter, the man sunk down a little lower, hissing, "What do you want?"

Astrid blinked, then smiled nervously and asked, "Can I see the store catalo—"

"No catalogue!" The man hissed, his eyes narrowing, "If you want something, look around and point, or list what you want in a neat, orderly fashion."

"Alright." Astrid nodded, taking a moment to think, "I would like one 'Fire' and one 'Restore' materia." She paused before asking, "Is that alright?"

"Hmm…" The man narrowed his eyes even further, drumming his fingers on the counter before hissing, "Acceptable…" He then sank out of view.

All was silent in the room for a moment, and Astrid began to feel uncomfortable. She was just now noticing how dark the room was, and how silent. There weren't a lot of people in this part of town, and there was no one within ten feet of this store. If something happened… would anyone hear her scream?

…This was getting uncomfortable…

"YOU!!"

Astrid jumped into the air and screamed, turning and whipping out Vincent's gun, which she fumbled and dropped, the gun dropping to the floor with a loud thud.

There was a moment of silence and Astrid looked slowly back up at the counter, where the man had reappeared.

He was glaring at her, eyes narrowed and untrusting, "You might want to learn to use that before you kill yourself or someone else with it."

"Ehe." Astrid stooped and picked the gun back up, gingerly sliding it back into its holster. The silence settled back over the shop. "So…" Astrid began after a moment, "Do you have my materia?"

"Umhermur." The man mumbled and his hands disappeared, only the top of his head and his eyes remaining. His hands returned a moment later, fingers sliding two materia onto the counter, where they rolled against each other and stayed, glowing softly. "200 gil." The man hissed.

After she left the materia store, Astrid zipped through the item store as fast as she could, not wanting to encounter any more odd people than she had to. After just four hours, she had had about as much of the people of Kalm as she could take. On her way back to the inn, she walked passed several people having conversations about how nice Shin-Ra was and how much they loved Shin-Ra.

… Astrid decided then that Shin-Ra had brainwashed the people of Kalm.

Back in the inn, Astrid slammed the door behind her and backed away slowly, panting and staring at it with wide eyes.

To put it simply: Kalm. Was. Scary.

"Ehem."

Astrid spun around, laughing when she saw Barret, Tifa, and Cloud staring at her like she was insane. "Hehe… hi."

Tifa looked her up and down, frowning, "What happened to you?"

"Is it just me," Astrid began, not answering the question, "Or are the people of Kalm a little… strange?"

"No," Cloud answered, shaking his head, "They're strange."

"Oh." Astrid said, walking over to the bed she was sharing with Red XIII and collapsing onto it. As she landed, something jabbed painfully into her gut, forcing her to sit up again. She unbuckled her sword scabbard and Vincent's gun holster, setting them aside and collapsing onto the bed again.

She was just about to drift off to sleep when Tifa called her name. She lifted her head, "Yes?"

"I don't think," Tifa began slowly, standing and walking from her bed to Astrid's, "That we got off on very good footing. If it's alright with you, I'd like to start over." Tifa sat on the edge of Astrid's bed and smiled, thrusting out her hand, "Hi. I'm Tifa Lockhart."

Smiling, Astrid sat up and took Tifa's hand, shaking it, "Hello, Tifa. I'm Astrid Cray. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Tifa beamed, "Same to you!" She then shot a look at Cloud and Barret, who looked away. Her eyes narrowing, she growled, "Cloud…Barret…"

Astrid blinked, looking between the woman before her and the two men on the other side of the room. "Is something… going on?"

Frowning at the men one final time, Tifa turned back to the teen and smiled, shaking her head, "Not at all! …Well…" She sighed and lowered her head, "I just thought we gave you a hard time and didn't really give you a chance, so I thought we'd all start over…"

"Oh…" Astrid looked at the men, who were still looking away. She laughed quietly, "Well… I don't blame you, you know. I didn't really give you much reason to trust me. I still haven't."

Tifa was about to say something when the door opened and Aerith and Red XIII walked in, the former looking a tad disgruntled and out of breath. When the two saw the state of discomfort the room was in, Aerith looked at Astrid and greeted her brightly. "Hello, Astrid! How did your shipping experience go?"

"Well enough." Astrid replied with a strained smiled, "The people of this town are a bit odd, though…"

"Oh, I agree." Aerith nodded, walking over to the bed and dropping her purchases right behind Astrid, patting her back, "Odder than those in Midgar, at least." When Astrid pulled away from the woman's touch, hissing, Aerith looked at her with worry, "What's wrong?!"

Astrid jumped to her feet and limped away, hunching over a bit, "Just a little sore, that's all. Few days and I'll be just fine."

"Don't try to avoid me!" Aerith exclaimed, flying to the teen's side and taking her arm, "Now come back over to the bed and let me have a look."

When Aerith had moved everything out of the way and had the teen laying on her stomach, she and Tifa gently peeled her sweater up, gapping at what they saw. From the top of Astrid's neck and down, disappearing beneath the waistline of her pants, was all basically a giant bruise, splotchy with blue, purple, yellow, and even close to black in some areas.

"ASTRID!!" Aerith screamed, running over to her things and grabbing her 'Restore', "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!"

"It didn't feel that bad…Ow!" Astrid flinched when Aerith's hands brushed over her back.

"Jeez, kid." Barret muttered, walking over to get a closer look, "What happened?"

Red XIII sighed, bumping Astrid's head with his snout, "It was Marcus, wasn't it?" Astrid sat up and didn't answer.

"That's got to be the third time that name has come up." Tifa muttered, taking a Potion over to Astrid's mouth and helping the teen drink, "Who is Marcus?"

Making a face as the Potion went down, Astrid muttered "Gah, that tastes like crap" before she cleared her throat and said, "I think my story would make more sense if Cloud did a little summary for us about what's going on, first."

Cloud consented, telling his sad (yet also largely fabricated) story of what happened between him and Sephiroth. When he was done, everyone was depressed and Barret's head was reeling.

The leader of AVALANCHE shook his head and groaned, turning to Astrid, who was now healed and sitting straight up, "Your story ain't that confusing, is it?"

Astrid shook her head and sighed. "No." She then took a deep breath and cleared her head, "Alright, here's the story:

"Basically, up until last year, my life was so ordinary it was even boring the atoms that make up my hair. I was a slightly above average student who got good grades and lived in an average house with an average mother, father, and brother. We all lived happy lives in our small town, perfectly content with living away from the hustle and bustle of the city. My little brother, Marcus and I…"

"Marcus?" Tifa interrupted, "He's your brother, then?"

Astrid nodded, "Yeah. Anyway:

"Marcus and I got along fairly well, considering the age difference and the fact that he really could be an annoying little dweeb. But, all in all, life was good. The way things were going, I was going to graduate in the top ten of my class and probably get plenty of scholarships to go to college, where I wanted to study to become a neurologist, which I had been planning on being since I was seven."

"Neurologist?" Barret interrupted, frowning, "You wanted to be a brain doctor when you were seven?"

Astrid shrugged, "I was a very practical person when I was seven. Moving on:

"Things were going great. Then, just before midterm of my senior year, I began to go down a path I never imagine, wanted, or expected. I suddenly wanted to be a freelance writer."

"A writer?!" Barret exclaimed, "How could you go from wanting to be a brain doctor to a writer?!"

"Barret!" Tifa hissed, smacking his arm, "Be quiet!" She looked to Astrid and nodded, "Continue."

"Alright:

"I'm not sure where it came from but when it came it came hard. I suddenly wasn't able to study properly anymore, and instead of doing homework I somehow almost always ended up writing some convoluted plot or sketching out the biography of some interesting character. It was when I was in the middle of fighting this that something… happened.

"One night, after writing a particularly odd introduction to a story and going to bed, I was awakened by something odd. I was sitting in my bed when I noticed a burning smell. At first, I thought it was the heater acting up again, but then it got worse. I looked at my door and saw smoke pouring out from underneath it, and when I went to my window I saw my parents standing outside, the police and fire departments parked in my front yard.

"It was then I learned that the house was on fire, and that my brother was still trapped inside. I overheard that they probably weren't going to be able to save my brother, and I knew that if I didn't try something they would take too much time saving me and they would never be able to get to him. So I took my chances, and a few wet towels, and ran into the fire. I thought a firefighter was going to be able to follow me, but there was an explosion that blew a hole in the floor and blocked my part of the hall with a wall of fire.

"I turned and ran on to my brother's room, almost breaking the door down when I got there. Inside… waiting for me… was Sephiroth." Astrid paused, lowing her head and clenching her hands, "He had Marcus hanging from one of his arms as if he were nothing. He turned to me and smiled, mocking me and scaring me at the same time. I…I wanted so bad to run at him and take Marcus, but… I was too scared." She paused again, shaking her head.

"If I hadn't been so scared, I might have been able to save Marcus then and there. But I didn't." She heaved a sigh, "Sephiroth used a materia and disappeared. I ran at where Sephiroth had been just in time to get sucked into the remnants of his magic. It transported me to Cactus Island, where the Turks found me. They brought me to Shin-Ra, where I made a deal with the president; if I told him everything I knew about Sephiroth, then Shin-Ra would do whatever they could to get Marcus back if they ever went in pursuit with Sephiroth.

"I told them what I knew, which was that Sephiroth was alive, had a new materia, and was on the move. They weren't satisfied, so I was handed over to Hojo until I told them what they wanted to hear. Thus began my six months as Hojo's disease experiment. The last experiment he was working on was a mako poisoning experiment, which explains my eyes." She waved a hand over her face, "And then you guys came. Sephiroth showed up not long after you did and killed the president, Rufus took over and declared my deal with his late father null, we escaped, and here we are now."

Astrid looked up and found the group gapping at her. She shook her head and sighed, "Pretty unbelievable, huh?"

"No." Tifa said, shaking her head, "Just… weird. And sad." She paused, then tilted her head, "What about your bruises?"

Astrid scratched her cheek and looked away, "That part is something I'm still confused about. You see, the night I was put in iso, I had a weird dream. I dreamed that Marcus came to see be, but something was off. His hair was longer than I remembered, and greyer, and his eyes looked like he'd been through some serious mako business. He… he called me filth and simple-minded, and he called Sephiroth his 'master'. He said Sephiroth unlocked his 'true potential', then hit me in the chest and sent me flying into the wall, causing the damage you all saw."

She sighed and shook her head, "I woke up where I had fallen asleep, but my back hurt, and the damage on the wall was still there. Then, the evacuation warning went off and the automated computer released me. I walked out into the hall and… well… you all remember what was there." She stopped and shook her head. "I… don't want to believe that Marcus could have done any of what we saw, but…"

"But that's what it looks like." Cloud finished, sighing when Astrid nodded. "We'll leave him to you, then."

Astrid looked at Cloud and blinked, "What?"

"When we meet Sephiroth," Cloud said, looking right at her, "We'll let you deal with Marcus. Handle him however you want, because none of us are going to interfere unless you ask us to." He looked at everyone else, "Is that clear? When we get to Sephiroth, no one touches Marcus without Astrid's say-so."

"Cloud," Tifa began slowly, "Does that mean Astrid's apart of the group?"

Cloud paused, then looked at Astrid and nodded, "It does."

"Cloud…" Astrid murmured. Then, she laughed and lowered her head, her hair shadowing her eyes, "Thank you."

There was a moment of silence. "Right then." Cloud nodded, getting to his feet, "Everyone get ready, because we're leaving soon."

"Wha?!" Barret exclaimed, his jaw dropping.

Cloud nodded, "We lost a lot of time yesterday just dropping off to sleep, so we're headed out today. Now, get moving." He then turned to his things and began packing.

Not willing to argue after such a depressing topic, Astrid jumped to her feet and grabbed a new backpack she had bought at the items store, taking her clothes from the old Shin-Ra bag and pouring them onto the bed, refolding them and shoving them into the new bag. She also shoved several other items she had bought into the flaps of the bag, making sure each flap held its own type of item. She did, though, keep two types of each item out to shove into her pockets when she was ready.

Backpack packed, Astrid then strapped on her sword, followed by Vincent's gun, then shoved the items into her pockets. Remembering her clothes from earlier, she retrieved them from the chair in the alcove and folded them, placing them with the other clothes in her bag.

All packed, Astrid sat on her bed and waited for the others, which didn't take very long. After doing a once-over of the room, they all headed downstairs, where Barret handed out several cell phones while Cloud checked them out of the inn.

"These," Barret explained, "Are our personalized PHS system. We can call each other from anywhere and everywhere, as long as we ain't more than four kilometers under the sea level or underground, so no deep-sea diving, spelunking, or mountain cave exploring." He chuckled, then continued, "These're designed for calling only, and they only call each other, so you can't call someone who ain't apart of our personalized system. There's one for each of us," He said, handing one to Cloud as he returned, "And there are a few extra. But," He looked at them all seriously, "Even though there are extras, these cost a lot, so don't think that you're at liberty to loose or break them. Awright, then, I think that's about it. Everyone ready? Well, get ready. We're leavin' in three minutes. I gotta go…" And he ran off.

"Astrid." She looked down at Red XIII, who nudged something at her, "Will you help me with this?"

Astrid knelt down and took a look at his PHS. It was built like a headset, but with a special retractable mouthpiece that extended itself when he had a call or wanted to make one. It was also voice activated, so he could command the phone to answer a call, ignore it, make a call, and hang up.

Picking it up and unraveling the wires, Astrid clamped the earpiece to his right ear and adjusted the clamps so they dug into his ear firmly, yet comfortably. She then attached the main body of the phone to his headdress, angling it so the mouthpiece would extend to the left side of his mouth.

After Barret returned, they all took a minute to add each others extension numbers to their phones, adding the extras but leaving the caller ids blank. After finalizing the numbers, they all walked out of the inn and left the village of Kalm, much to Astrid's relief.


	11. At the Chocobo Farm

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(At the Chocobo Farm)

A journey that should have taken nine days passed in six with Cloud basically cracking the proverbial bullwhip over the heads of the rest of the group, cutting their sleeping time down to the bare minimum of bodily requirements and keeping resting breaks excruciatingly short. Even the 'We Love Cloud Fan Club' (WLCFC for short; consists of Tifa and Aerith) members were on their last reserves of 'undying adoration' for their slave driving leader.

So, when a house-shaped smudge appeared on the horizon and Cloud was all for skipping it and heading straight for the next big city, he was met with opposition at every corner, as well as the firing-end of a heavy silver handgun that suddenly didn't seem so heavy to Astrid. Hell, if Cloud was standing between her and sleep, the gun could as well have weighed as much as a cotton ball, and what did a little kick matter?

Thus, it was decided that they would be going to the house-shaped smudge and seeing if there were any open beds.

Upon arrival, they were a bit shocked to see that the house-shaped smudge was, in fact, a house. …Just one house… with a barn… and, outside in a corral was a heard of…

"CHOCOBOS!" Astrid, suddenly no longer tired, shot passed the group and latched herself onto the neck of the nearest chocobo, which let out a panicked 'Wark' and started to try to fling her off. When the teen only clamped down harder on the birds neck, it gave up and let itself be stroked, glaring at Astrid the whole time.

After a bit of an argument between Cloud and Astrid, Astrid grudgingly released the harassed bird and tagged along with the group up to the house. There, the door was already open and a smiling man was waiting for them, "Welcome, friends! My, my, you all look tired. Been traveling for quite some time?"

"And we still have a long road ahead." Cloud answered, nodding, "Do you offer lodgings?"

"Why of course!" The man laughed, taking a step into the house and welcoming the group in, "Come in! I'll lead you to the beds."

"How much will it cost?" Cloud asked as they followed the man up a flight of stairs and to a large room with several beds.

"100 gil a night." The man answered, smiling to each member of the group as they stumbled passed him.

The man left after Cloud paid him, and they all collapsed on the beds, Tifa groaning and shutting the curtains to at least dim the light in the room.

Red XIII noticed that Astrid hadn't removed her weapons and nudged her, "Won't it hurt if you roll over on those while you're sleeping?"

"Too tired to roll over." Astrid whined, waving her hand and the feline, "Lie down and lemme go to sleep."

Rolling his eyes, Red XIII curled up beside her and laid a paw over his eyes, dropping off to sleep in a matter of moments.

She was woken some time later by the 'wark'ing of the chocobos outside, much like the crowing of a rooster. Astrid moaned and sat up, clutching her sides. Red XIII had been right; she should have taken the weapons off. The hilt of her sword had buried itself into her ribs, and Vincent's gun had weaseled under her stomach and tilted itself sideways so that the trigger guard was boring into her bellybutton. All in all, very uncomfortable. 'Thank heavens it has a safety lock on it…'

She looked around the room, seeing everyone there and still asleep. She then turned to the window, where, through the thin curtains, she saw that the sun was just setting on the horizon. She'd gotten about four hours of sleep.

Taking off her sword but leaving Vincent's gun on, Astrid dug a jacket out of her backpack and pulled it on, not bothering to zip it up. She then tiptoed out of the room and headed down the stairs.

The chocobo man was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a thin, paperbacked book. He looked up and smiled when she walked in, "Evening! You and your group seemed so tired, I wasn't sure you'd be waking up before tomorrow."

Astrid shook her head and sighed, "Couldn't sleep."

"I see." The man nodded. He then noticed her standing and laughed, motioning to the empty chairs at the table, "Have a seat. You want anything to eat or drink?"

"No thanks." Astrid answered, smiling as she took a seat at the opposite end of the table. She looked around the room for a moment, then asked, "There aren't any more settlements in this area, are there?"

"Nope." The man answered, flipping the page of his book, "Nothing on this side of the mountain range but my farm. If you want to get to the next human settlements, Fort Condor and Junon are on the other side, in the Junon area. But, you gotta go through the Mythril Mines to get there, and before that you gotta cross the marshes."

"I guess we'll be crossing the marshes tomorrow, then." Astrid murmured, rubbing her fingers over the grain of the wooden table.

"Not on foot, I hope." She looked up at the farmer, who had set his book down and was frowning, "If you try to walk through the marshes, you'll get caught by the Midgar Zolom."

Astrid blinked, "The what?"

The farmer sighed and shook his head, "The Midgar Zolom. It's a giant snake that lives in the marshes, well over sixty feet long. It's got a violent temperament, and from what I heard from travelers the one that was living there recently had a full nest of eggs, so she'll be even more temperamental than she has been in the past."

Astrid paled as she listened to this, asking in a panicked voice when the man was done speaking, "How do we get across, then?!"

"With this." The man pulled out of his back pocket a purple materia, twisting it in his fingers. "It's called 'Chocobo Lure', and it basically attracts chocobos to the person using it. Just equipped it to yourself and you'll automatically become chocobo-nip."

Frowning, Astrid looked at the man skeptically, "How much?"

The farmer smiled, "1000 gil."

"You have got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed, jumping out of her chair. "That's ridiculous!"

The farmer shrugged, stowing the materia back into his pocket, "You're the one now adding value to crossing the marshes, not me. If you aren't willing to pay, then obviously crossing doesn't mean that much to you."

This sent Astrid reeling. Clenching her hands so tightly they nearly bled, she slammed her fists onto the table and leaned in to look at the man closer, narrowing her eyes, "You're going to regret saying that. I'm going to give you the thousand for that materia, and I'll get it all for you before midnight. I won't even borrow from my group's travel funds."

"Let's make it even more interesting," The farmer said, leaning forward and smiling, "If you can do what you say and get the thousand before midnight, without digging into your groups funds and without help, not only will I give you the materia, I'll also throw in the first set of chocobos free, no hand in catching them on your part."

"Deal." Astrid hissed, thrusting out her hand.

"Deal." The man smirked, taking Astrid's hand and shaking it firmly.

Once Astrid got outside, though, her confidence waned. In all of her hype to show up the farmer, she had left the house equipped with nothing but Vincent's gun and a 'Fire' materia, and there was no way she could go back to get her sword without admitting defeat. Sighing and sliding the materia into one of the guns materia slots, Astrid knew there was no going back.

Just as she had finished loading the bullets from the grooves in the holster and clicking the magazine shut, Astrid had to pull back and stumbled out of the way of a plant beast that popped out of the ground and bit at her ankles, its razor teeth gleaming and dripping with a nasty-looking purple liquid.

Sighing, Astrid raised a hand and pointed it at the beast. "This is going to take forever." She unleashed a 'Fire1'.

Several hours, bruises, cuts, and magic uses later, Astrid stumbled up the front steps to the chocobo farmhouse, carrying a slightly torn and bloody bag in one hand and Vincent's gun in the other. She pushed the front door open with her foot and walked inside, panting heavily. She found the farmer still in the kitchen, now three quarters finished with his paperback book. The farmer looked up when she staggered into the room and threw the bag on the table, its contents jingling. Just then, a clock in the living room clicked and let out twelve consecutive gongs.

When the sound faded, Astrid leaned against the table heavily, "Bet… completed…" And with that, she collapsed into a heavy sleep. It was during that sleep she had a disturbing dream…

She woke in the middle of a grassy field, with blue skies and pasture spreading out around her forever. She stood and looked around, closing her eyes and spreading her arms, spinning. She was free… free of exhaustion and worry… No more responsibility… No more expectations… No one to worry about but herself.

She stopped spinning and looked around again. There was something wrong with that. She had the oddest feeling that she was forgetting something… something important.

"Forget me again, Astrid?"

She spun around quickly, gasping when she saw Marcus standing right behind her. How could she have forgotten him again?

Marcus shook his head and scoffed, "Don't worry about forgetting me, Astrid. I actually prefer it that way. You don't have to bother remembering me anymore, so just feel free to live your life however you want."

She frowned. But what about Marcus? What would happen to him if she did that?

Marcus laughed mockingly, "You don't need to worry about my wellbeing, Astrid. I have someone else who's taking care of me now; someone who's teaching me to take care of myself. I have Master Sephiroth."

She shook her head, eyes wide. Sephiroth wouldn't take care of him! Sephiroth would kill him! No, she couldn't leave her brother with that… thing! She had to get him back!

"There is no need." She turned again, finding Sephiroth standing behind her, staring at her intently. His sword was held out at his side, blood running along the blade. "I'll take care of Marcus, Astrid, so you don't need to worry about 'saving' him from me."

"Yeah," Marcus added, appearing beside Sephiroth, "So quit following us and go back to Midgar." With that, Marcus turned and walked away.

"Don't worry, Astrid." Sephiroth whispered, grinning widely and raising his sword, "I'll take good _care_ of Marcus." He then spun swiftly and thrust out with his sword, giving Marcus no warning or time to react as the blade dug into the boy's…

Astrid woke screaming, sweat and tears running down her face. She felt arms and comforting hands surround her, and she turned and fell onto Aerith's shoulder, body wracked with sobs, "Sephiroth's going to kill him! Sephiroth is going to kill Marcus!"

"It's alright, Astrid," Aerith consoled, rubbing Astrid's back, "We're going to find him. We're going to take him back from Sephiroth. We'll help you save Marcus."

"We won't make it in time." Astrid moaned, shaking her head, "Sephiroth is already planning to kill him!"

"You can't be like that!" Barret exclaimed, pounding his fist against the wall, "Don't give up on your brother, especially not when he needs you!"

"You just have to keep going," Tifa insisted, "Just keep going and we'll find them and save Marcus before Sephiroth hurts him anymore than he has…" Tifa trailed off, throwing a look Cloud's way.

The man just shrugged, muttering, "Besides, even if Sephiroth were going to kill him, he'd probably want you around to watch it—"

"CLOUD!!" Tifa and Aerith screamed, Astrid flinching and falling quiet.

"You're right." She muttered. They all looked at Astrid as she pulled away from Aerith, nodding to Cloud, "You're right. Sephiroth wouldn't kill Marcus unless I was around to see it and suffer…" She looked at Cloud and smiled, "As long as I'm following them, but not with them, Marcus is safe. Thanks for pointing that out, Cloud."

Cloud just turned away and muttered.

Astrid coughed and stood, smiling at Aerith. "I'm fine now. Thanks." Aerith nodded and smiled back.

They then began to move around and gather their things, Red XII watching Astrid closely. "Why do you smell like fresh blood and sweat?"

Blinking, Astrid glanced at the feline and smiled innocently, turning back to shove her things in her backpack in a distracted manner, "What are you talking about, Red?"

Red sighed and shook his head, "You smell like fresh blood and sweat, you have scratches on your face, your sweater is torn slightly, and you're missing several bullets from the holster of your gun. What happened?"

"Oh," Astrid answered nonchalantly, grabbing some clothes out of her bag and taking off Vincent's gun, "Just a bit of… training. Well, I'm gonna go take a shower now!" She said the last part loudly, running into the bathroom before anyone could protest.

The party exchanged glances when she slammed the door.

"Training?" Tifa looked at Aerith, brows raised.

Aerith shrugged, "I didn't hear anything last night."

"She's actin' a bit… odd, ain't she?" Barret asked, looking at the bathroom door.

Cloud shrugged, "She's probably just worried about her brother."

"I'm sure she is," Red said, arching his back in a stretch, "But I think she had more reason for training last night than just training."

Astrid emerged from the shower a bit later, wringing out the last of the water in her hair and pulling it in a ponytail, tossing it carelessly over her shoulder. Seeing that everybody had packed and taken their stuff, she threw on her sword and Vincent's gun, as well as hefting her backpack onto her shoulders.

She tromped down the stairs stretching her arms, which were sore and tingling. 'Vincent's gun has more kick than I thought.' She frowned, lifting her arm over her head and pressing down on her elbow, 'I hadn't realized how sore I was until that hot water loosened my muscles.'

Outside, Astrid stopped and laughed when she saw the party stopped at the edge of the fence, staring at the chocobos two boys were fixing with tack. They all looked at her, frowning. "You rented chocobos." Cloud stated accusingly, crossing his arms.

"What?" Astrid quirked a brow, smirking, "Have a slight aversion to chocobos, Cloud?"

"No." Cloud answered so potently Astrid turned away and started laughing. When she turned back, he was glaring at her, "I do not have a 'slight aversion' to chocobos. They're just expensive to rent. Very expensive."

"These didn't cost you a cent." The farmer shouted, walking over with a saddled chocobo on a lead rope. "Thanks to her," He nodded to Astrid, "Not only did you get a 'Chocobo Lure' materia for free, you also got a full set of riding chocobos for free." He looked back to Astrid pointedly, "These chocobos are the best traveling chocobos I have. They'll take you as far as Junon, and you'll be able to pack them down heavily and not have to worry about crossing the marshes. This one is yours." He handed her the reigns of the chocobo he was leading and unclipping the lead rope.

Astrid looked at the chocobo with wide eyes, taking the reigns gingerly. She stared at the chocobo a bit longer, then squealed and flung herself at it, hugging its neck. "I shall name him Boky and he shall be my Boky!"

"Uhh…" The farmer scratched the back of his head, "It's a 'she', her name is Orchid, and she's only going with you as far as Junon."

Astrid's arm twitched and she turned on the man, her eyes wide and watering, "Quit ruining my hopes and dreams!"

"Astrid." She turned to Tifa, who was holding the reigns of another chocobo and shaking her head, "It's time to go."

When they had mounted and were riding away, the farmer called out to them, "Just let 'em go once you reach Junon and they'll find their way back here on their own! If you ever want to raise chocobos, my farm is always gonna be here!"

Astrid turned on her saddle and waved, "We'll keep that in mind! Thanks!"

"Watch out for the Midgar Zolom!" The last traces of the farmer's voice called.


	12. From the Grasslands to the Junon Area

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(From the Grasslands to the Junon Area)

When they arrived at the border between the grasslands and the marshes, Astrid pulled Boky(Orchid) to a halt and stared at the bog. The others noticed her absence and stopped, as well, turning back to look at her. They saw her looking at the slushy ground and thick peat, eyes wide and darting through the tall weeds.

Red XIII shifted from his position behind her and nudged her waist, "Are you alright?" (as a side note, this wasn't a particularly comfortable position for the feline, who would have sooner walked across the marshes. he ended up agreeing to ride behind Astrid, though, when she insisted, for reasons we all know.)

Astrid blinked and shook her head, frowning and muttering, "I wish there was another way…"

"Unfortunately, there isn't," Red said, shaking his head, "So you'll just have to cross and get it over with. Now, let's go, before the Zolom shows up."

She sighed heavily, then stood straight in the saddle and nodded, "Right." Taking a firm hold on the reigns, Astrid clicked her tongue and tapped the chocobo's sides with her heels, starting the trek across the marshes.

They spent much of the day crossing the marsh in silence, always looking between the talons of their chocobos and the weeds around them. Astrid was staring into the shallows intently, jumping at the slightest movement in the murky waters. Red and Orchid were thoroughly jostled and tired by her abrupt movements just two hours into the ride.

By midday, the mountains were clearer than ever and the other side of the marshes was visible; a strip of green running along the mountainside. Astrid's guard dropped a little and she perked up in her saddle, giving Orchid more reign and letting the chocobo speed up, passing the others. They thought nothing of this and continued at their pace. Then, they heard a horrified shriek, at which Cloud and Barret kicked their chocobos into high gear and sped ahead, Tifa and Aerith not far behind.

As they burst through the bushes, they found Orchid on her back, flapping her wings and wriggling. The chocobo let out a terrified 'wark' and twisted herself onto her feet, running off into the marsh. The party looked around for Astrid and Red XIII, Tifa spotting the latter pulling himself out of the bushes and shaking his head dazedly.

Cloud dismounted his chocobo and walked over to Astrid, who was lying in the marsh and looking up at something in horror. The swordsman shook his head and pulled her to her feet, turning her away and muttering, "Don't look."

The others looked at what the teen had been looking at and cringed. It was a giant snake, presumably the Midgar Zolom, raising up into the air and impaled through several of its fleshy coils, the head sitting on the top, stabbed through the soft underside of its chin. Carved into the snake's flesh and in plain view was the phrase 'Just Try To Stop Us'.

Astrid pulled away from Cloud and slumped against a contorted tree, breathing through her mouth, "How… why would they do that?"

"They're challengin' us, o' course!" Barret shouted, raising a clenched fist into the air.

"No." Cloud shook his head, staring back at the brutalized snake, "They're taunting us. Sephiroth is much stronger than we are, and there's a possibility Marcus could be, as well. They know that, at our current levels of power, we could never beat them."

"So they're rubbing it in our faces." Astrid gritted her teeth, pounding her fist against her hip.

"Even so," Barret shook his head and glanced back at the monstrosity, "It makes ya think. We're fightin' against a guy who can do that. I dunno about you," He glanced at the others and frowned, "But I think we're screwed."

"We're screwed if we don't try." Astrid snapped, glaring at the snake.

There was a moment of silence, broken when Tifa stepped in and nodded, "Astrid's right. Whether or not we're a match for Sephiroth and Marcus, we've got no choice but to fight."

"The sake of the planet could be at stake." Aerith concurred, setting a hand on Astrid's shoulder.

They stared at the impaled snake for a few more moments, then silently returned to their chocobos, Astrid slowly edging towards a tense Orchid, who had returned and was standing shivering in the bushes. Grabbing a hold of the trembling chocobo's reigns, Astrid swung herself into the saddle and held her bird calm while Red jumped up behind her. Once they were settled, she turned the chocobo towards the path the others had taken, pausing to stare at the speared beast for a moment.

Red shifted a bit and nudged the back of her arm, "Astrid?"

Shaking her head, she looked down at the feline and smiled, "It's nothing, Red." She then tapped Orchid's sides and geared into a fast trot, catching up with the others and falling into line behind them. They soon reached the edge of the mountains and found a large, manmade tunnel.

"This is it." Barret said, jumping off of his chocobo and turning to the party, "The Mythril Mines. We won't be able to ride the chocobos through here, so if we're gonna take 'em we're gonna have to walk 'em."

They all dismounted their chocobos and arranged themselves in a single line with Cloud leading, followed by Tifa, Aerith, Astrid, Red XIII, and Barret bringing up the end. Traveling through the Mines proved to be more difficult than it had been in the game, with three times as many tunnels to walk down and beasts appearing around every corner. After forty-seven dead ends, fifty plus engagements, and six hours of walking, they finally managed to talk Cloud into stopping for a few hours of rest.

Astrid lay on her back and stared at the dark cloth of the tent above her, swaying in the breeze that flowed through the mine shaft. It was stronger than it had been a few hours ago, so she figured that it wouldn't be much longer before they found a way out.

Despite the almost overwhelming exhaustion she felt, Astrid only managed to get a few broken hours of sleep. She had the oddest feeling that she was being watched. Now, one thing about Astrid was this; whenever she was in a situation where she wasn't in an urban setting and she was sleeping outside, she became quite paranoid. This paranoia led to lack of sleep, which led to delusions, which led to her sitting up and staring off into the darkness for hours on end, eyes searching for shadows in the inky black. As you would imagine, this is very tiring and can get rather redundant.

Thus, when Astrid actually heard the scuffles of disturbed rocks and the faintest whisper of voices, she couldn't help but wonder if she was actually hearing something or if she had just finally snapped. If only just to humor herself, Astrid pulled on her shoes and slipped out of the tent.

The moment she stepped outside, the shuffles and whispers stopped. Astrid stopped moving and strained her ears, listening. Nothing.

Paranoid or not, this was too coincidental to Astrid for it to just be her mind playing tricks on her; someone was out there. She knelt slowly and reached into the tent, feeling around for her weapons. Feeling the polished barrel of Vincent's gun, she slid it out of the tent and slowly stood, slipping her finger to the trigger and clicking off the safety.

Astrid remained standing outside the tent and looking off into the darkness for several more hours, startling the party when they crawled out of their tents. Cloud and Barret readied their weapons when they saw the gun in her hand, and Tifa and Aerith approached her slowly, eyes looking around the camp.

"Astrid," Aerith breathed, fingering a 'Fire' materia, "What's going on?"

The teen shook her head and clicked the safety to Vincent's gun back on, "Nothing. I just thought I heard something, that's all. I've been standing here awhile, so it was probably just a beast." She looked at the party and smiled, "Are we leaving soon? I think we're almost to an exit."

They had a quick 'breakfast' (they really had no idea what time of the day it was) of beast stew (always best never to ask what beasts were used), then they packed their camp, loaded the chocobos, and headed out. Just a few minutes into the walk, the light in the tunnel began to brighten and the wind pick up. They breathed the fresh air deeply, a light scent of flowers in the breeze.

When the chocobos caught the scent of greenery, they became restless and jumpy, all clamoring to get to the lead and drag their humans out of the darkness and under the sky. Then, the tunnel quickly widened out into a large cave brightly lit by sunlight pouring through an arch on the opposite side. The chocobos squealed and ran for the exit, only to 'wark' in protest when their owners pulled back on their reigns. The party glared at the surrounding area, obviously looking for something.

Astrid stood off to the side, looking around herself in confusion. 'What are they looking at?' She listened carefully and blinked. Shuffling and whispering. They were surrounded. Hearing a shuffle off to her immediate left, Astrid tore Vincent's gun out of its holster, clicking off the safety and spinning to point it to the shadows above her. She fired a few warning shots, purposely aiming a bit too high. The shots echoed for a few moments, and when silence fell a low chuckling started.

"Hehehe, you're pretty good, kid." Two people stepped out of the shadows.

Astrid gapped, "Reno? Rude!"

Reno raised two fingers to his brow and saluted her, jerking them away quickly and grinning at her, "Hey, Astrid." Rude nodded.

"Greetings." Astrid spun and gapped as Tseng and Elena stepped out of the shadows near the exit. After addressing the party with his little spiel, Tseng turned to Astrid and nodded, "It's good to see you well. When no one could find you after Shin-Ra was attacked, we assumed…"

"I'm fine, Tseng." Astrid smiled and nodded, "Sephiroth didn't even come to visit me."

Elena frowned, "But… the isolation chamber… The wall inside was—"

"Nothing more than a slight clash with Marcus, was all." Astrid laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, "Nothing to worry about."

"Marcus," Tseng said slowly, frowning, "So… he's alive. I assume he's the boy Palmer said was… accompanying Sephiroth?"

Astrid lowered her eyes, "Th-that's what it… looks like."

Tseng took a step closer to her, his eyes a bit concerned, "You do know that we're after Sephiroth…"

"Yeah," Astrid nodded, sighing. She then looked up and gave a strained smile, "I assume that… if you find Marcus with Sephiroth you'll…"

"That's what we're a bit confused on, Astrid." She turned to Reno, who was scratching his cheek, "Didn't you make a deal with the late president? What're you doing outside of the Shin-Ra building? Isn't that breaking the contract?"

Astrid shook her head, "Rufus… declared the contract bunk."

Reno stumbled backwards, gapping, "What?! Why?"

"The deal was that if Shin-Ra pursued Sephiroth while the former president was in charge, then Marcus would be returned safely." Astrid shrugged, "Rufus is taking the contract for how it was written. He's the one pursuing Sephiroth, not his father. Therefore, the contract is void." She clenched her hands and stood tall, "Rufus said I was free to leave, so I did. I found out that these guys were going after Sephiroth, so I joined. I'm going after Marcus myself, now."

"Then there's a high possibility that we may find ourselves on opposite sides, soon enough." Rude observed, frowning.

"That's right." Astrid nodded solemnly. She then looked at each of the Turks in turn, face grave, "If ever any of you receive orders to harm Marcus, I'll have no choice but to fight you, even if we're…"

Tseng nodded, "That's the only possible path, then. Very well." He bowed slightly, his hair falling over his shoulders, "Goodbye, Miss Cray. It was… fun." He turned and walked away.

Elena nodded, "I like you, Astrid, but I won't hold back. Take that as a friendly warning." She followed Tseng.

"Good luck, Astrid." Reno saluted her again, throwing her a roguish grin, "I think we'll be meeting again, soon." He jumped across the gap and ran through the exit.

Rude jumped after him, turning to bow to Astrid, "Miss Cray…" He took off after Reno.

The group stood in silence for a moment, then Astrid turned to them and smiled, "Well, let's go." They found a narrow path for the chocobos to walk up, then walked through the exit.

They were dazzled by the brilliant afternoon sun and the bright blue skies, and their feet cried out in relief at the soft grass and dirt relieving them from the hard stone.

Cloud quickly mounted his chocobo and nodded to the rest of the group, "Come on, it's only a few days to Junon."

Whether it was because they were all getting more attuned to traveling or they were all looking forward to a hot bath, those few days to Junon passed quickly, and soon the great cliff that the seaside city was built on was in clear view. And so was the chain of forests nearby.

Astrid eyed the forest area warily, wondering if the group was going to willingly head over there, and wondering if she should even bother to make them if they didn't. Though Astrid wasn't a big Yuffie hater, the young ninja was quite annoying, conniving, whiny, and a bit of a backstabber. And who would want to deal with that for an entire journey?

The more Astrid thought about it and the closer they came to passing up the forests completely, the more convinced she became to just brush off Yuffie completely. The girl was, after all, an optional character, and it wouldn't hurt the main storyline in any way to just pass her up. And besides, there were several positive notes to just ignoring Yuffie.

Positive number one: They would never have to pay for her weapons.

Positive number two: They could sell any of her weapons they found.

Positive number three: She would never be able to steal their materia.

Number four: They would never have to worry about the ninja and her father stealing their stuff.

Five: They would just flat never have to deal with Yuffie.

… Astrid could keep this up all day, but they were almost passed the point of no return in respect to the forest.

Now, it may seem like things should be pretty clear-cut in Astrid's decision in searching for Yuffie, but the teen was actually in a real battle with herself over the idea. As bad as it seemed, she was actually considering turning the group to look for the annoying, immature ninja.

The decision was made quickly in her head without much thought, and initiating a series of events that she would later both regret and condone herself for, Astrid leaned over and began to fiddle with her stirrup. When she felt herself begin to fall she jerked hard on the reigns, startling Orchid. Then, when her body left the saddle completely, Astrid jerked the reigns even harder and kicked the chocobo's side, sending the bird reeling.

Orchid raised her head into the air and let out a loud, panicked 'wark', then turned and started to run. Astrid landed on her back heavily, winding herself and knocking her head. She watched dazedly as the chocobo ran away from the group and into the forest, and heard the fuzzy shouts of her companions as they ran back to her, calling out to her. She moaned when something rough and wet rubbed her forehead, then fell into dark oblivion.


	13. The Insufferable Ninja of Ninja Doom!

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The Insufferable Ninja of Ninja-y Doom!)

When Astrid awoke, she was surrounded by the concerned faces of Aerith, Tifa, and Red XIII. Despite their protests, she sat up and looked around, wondering where she was. She saw Cloud standing nearby, staring at her in a scrutinizing manner and Barret pacing behind him, a long stream of curses pouring from his mouth. Blinking, she looked around further, and when she saw the forest nearby, her plan and reasons came back to her. 'Trick the group into going into the forest and look for Yuffie.'

"-strid? Astrid? Astrid!"

She blinked and shook her head, looking at Aerith, "Huh?"

Aerith held a materia before Astrid's eyes, "Look at the materia." She then squeezed it and it glowed brightly, nearly blinding the teen. After a moment, Aerith lowered the materia, satisfied, "Good. You don't have a concussion. Astrid? Do you remember what happened?"

She blinked, then grabbed her forehead, "I was… doing something and I… fell? Off of my chocobo?"

"That's right." Aerith nodded, "Now, tell me, who am I?"

Astrid frowned, "You're Aerith, of course."

Aerith nodded again, "Good." She then smiled, tilting her head, "Sorry for that, but I wanted to make sure that you didn't have some sort of brain damage. How do you feel?"

"Been better." Astrid grunted, pushing herself to her feet. She teetered a bit and the two women stood, grabbing her arms to stabilize her.

Tifa shook her head, "You shouldn't move so quickly, Astrid!"

"Gotta," She pushed herself out of their grasps, brushing herself off, "We gotta find Orchid, then go on to Junon."

"Forget the bird." Cloud cut in, shaking his head, "It'll find its way back to the farm on its own. We should press on."

Astrid turned to the leader and crossed her arms, frowning, "She has my stuff, and I kind of want it."

"Really?" The man crossed his arms, "And what does it have other than that gun and a few Potions? All of your clothes are packed on Tifa's chocobo."

Astrid pursed her lips, "I want that gun."

Cloud rolled his eyes, "You can buy yourself another one when you get the money."

"That's not a standard gun, Cloud." She pressed, "You won't find it in another store unless it's either for display only or outrageously priced. Besides, it has an 'Enemy Skill' materia in it, and I have four abilities saved on it." Cloud was about to protest again when Astrid cut him off, snapping, "If you want to go to Junon that badly, then be my guest and go. I'm going after Orchid. I'll catch up to you when I find her." With that, she spun on her heel and started walking.

When no one called out to stop her or ran to catch up with her, Astrid began to panic. She hadn't planned on things going like that; she had thought it would have been fairly easy to convince Cloud to go after her things. When she reached the edge of the forest, she slipped behind a tree and glanced back, not wanting them to see her.

She saw that they had already mounted their chocobos and that Cloud and Barret were ready to take off, but Aerith and Tifa were still hanging back, looking at the tree line. Astrid frowned, 'Where is Red XIII?...'

"They said they'll continue to Junon." Astrid jumped and yelped, then spun and stared down at the feline, who was looking at the group, "They'll wait for us there. If we're not there by the time the next ship has left, then we'll have to, as Barret put it, 'haul ass' to catch up to them." He paused, then glanced up at her, "If you really wanted them to follow you, that was the wrong way to go about it. Cloud is not the type of person to pursue anyone in that kind of situation."

"Hehe," Astrid tapped her forefingers together and laughed nervously. She then stole a glance at Red XIII, "But you came…"

His lids lowered as he regarded her cynically, "Because we all knew you would die if you didn't have help. So," He sighed, "What is out here that is so important that you'd risk your health like that?"

"A person." Red looked up at her and she nodded, "A… fairly useful fighter."

"And you were hoping to convince them to travel with us?"

Astrid nodded, "I figured we'd need all the help we could get."

"Alright." The feline nodded, "Well, let's get going, then."

Sighing happily, she nodded and walked beside the feline, "You know, I'm glad I have someone here I can tell the truth to and not be questioned about it. Thanks, Nanaki."

Red shook his head, a smirk forming on his lips, "Of course, my friend."

After only five minutes, they found Orchid standing in the middle of a clearing and grazing on grass. She 'wark'ed happily as they approached and ran to Astrid, nuzzling the top of the teen's head. Astrid laughed and scratched the chocobo's chest, "I missed you too, Orchid! I'm sorry for kicking you." Astrid made sure that the chocobo still had everything, then grabbed the reigns and turned to Red, "Well, now that we've found her, let's move on to—"

"Hold it right there, lady!"

Astrid and Red froze, then turned slowly to face the darker parts of the forest. From behind one of the trees emerged a shadow, blurry and shapeless against the dark foliage. The shadow walked forward, taking a distinctly feminine form, though short and a tad… underdeveloped. Though she knew who it was, Astrid quirked a brow and shifted her weight to her right leg, setting her left hand on her jutting hip, "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Don't move!" The figure shouted, then disappeared in a scratchy fizzt.

Blinking, Astrid strained her ears and listened as she heard leaves and branches shuffle slightly around her, more fizzts being heard every few seconds. Astrid deadpanned; the girl was moving around exactly like a ninja from one of those anime shows.

Two minutes later, the shadow reappeared at the exact spot it had left from, once again shielded by the thick leaves. "Alright, so it's just you, your pet cat, and your chocobo. Excellent! Hehehe." The shadow rubbed its hands together and cackled evilly.

Red shook his head indignantly, "Pet?! How dare you, you insolent girl!"

"Gah!" The shadow jumped backwards, "The kitty speaks!" She paused, then started laughing again, "No matter! I shall have what I want!" She then placed her hands on her hips and shouted in a 'commanding' tone, "Surrender your materia, or I shall be forced to pry them from your cold, dead fingers!"

Astrid rolled her eyes and scoffed, "As if I'm about to give in to the demands of an impertinent fourteen-year-old."

"Wha?!" The girl screamed. She then stomped her feet, "Ooohh! That's what I hate about you old people! You always assume that because someone's younger than you that they can't do anything! Well, I'll show you!" She whipped something off of her back and threw it at Astrid.

Astrid just stood where she was, quirking a brow as the projectile shot passed. When it hit a tree with a solid thunk, she gave it a fleeting glance. It was a larger than average throwing star, though not the large shuriken that the girl usually wielded. Astrid turned back to the girl and tilted her head, "Was that supposed to hit me?"

"Grrraahhh!" The girl's hands flew to her sides and she whipped out more weapons, "Stupid adult!"

Ducking as a barrage of throwing knives came at her, Astrid reached for her waist and removed Vincent's gun from its holster, running forward and firing a few shots at the ninja's feet. When more weapons came flying at her, she dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, Red XIII running up behind her and jumping over the weapons. He flipped in the air once, then crashed into the girl heavily, knocking her off of her feet.

When she hit the ground, the girl rolled up onto her shoulder blades, bracing her feet against Red's stomach and shoving against him hard, sending him flying. By this time, Astrid had gotten to her feet and unsheathed her sword, running forward just as Red was launched into the air.

The ninja rolled onto her shoulder blades again, braced her hands against the ground, and flung her feet out, jumping back onto them and landing in a crouching position. She saw Astrid coming and reached behind her back, finally bringing out her large shuriken.

Sparks flew as the two weapons met and Astrid jumped backwards, holstering the gun but giving the ninja a chance to regain her balance. Astrid quickly grabbed the sword with both hands and struck, her blade meeting the shuriken again. The ninja threw her arm upward, Astrid's sword ringing as the momentum of the shuriken tossed it into the air and nearly ripped it from its user's hands.

Astrid didn't have any time to recover and fend off the weapon as it slashed her abdomen, but she did manage to twist out of the way and avoid most of the damage, using her centrifugal force to swing the sword around and slam the flat of the blade against the ninja's outstretched arm. Astrid flinched when she heard a popping sound coming from the arm, but waved the sword back at the ninja and halted the blade at the girl's neck.

Now that she was closer, Astrid could finally make out the details of Yuffie Kisaragi's face, and she could see that the ninja was shocked and slightly frightened. Astrid's blade had struck Yuffie's shuriken arm and knocked the weapon from her hands, and though Astrid was sure that the girl could use her other hand for fighting, Yuffie obviously wasn't willing to fight against two people with one arm.

Yuffie began to back away slowly and then she turned to run, only to pull to a screeching halt when she found Red XIII waiting for her, blocking her path. Yuffie looked between them nervously, then turned to Astrid and laughed loudly, "Ah, yes. I see you have some skill with both a blade and with a gun. I commend you and congratulate you for passing my… test!"

Astrid lowered her sword slightly and quirked a bow, "Test?"

"Yes, yes," Yuffie closed her eyes and raised her uninjured arm, stroking her chin with fake contemplation, "You see, there are so many… inexperienced travelers wandering around these days that bandits and muggers are finding themselves in a veritable smorgasbord of easy prey."

Raising both brows now, Astrid asked airily, "Is that so?"

Yuffie nodded, shaking her head and raising her hand helplessly, "I am afraid it is. But, there is a ray of hope; me!"

"You?" Red asked, blinking vapidly.

"Yes, Mr. Kitty; me." The ninja girl turned to the feline now, crossing her arms so she could subtly cradle her injured arm, "You see, I have made it my solemn and sacred duty to teach and protect today's travelers from vagabonds, which is what I did with you." She looked down at her arm and squeezed it slightly, "Though I can see that it was not necessary."

Astrid allowed the faintest of smirks to cross her face as she slowly drawled, "I can see that the people of Gaia are much better off having you around. But… doesn't it get lonely, being just you? Or are there more of you?"

"No, no." Yuffie turned to her and waved her hand, "It is I and I alone. I simply could not allow any to follow my dangerous path and endanger their lives. No, I walk this treacherous, lonesome path on my own."

Rolling her eyes, Astrid sighed, "Yeah, right. Alright, listen; your little act was cute and all, but we really need to get going, so if you'd please give us back our materia, we'd appreciate it."

"Come again?" Yuffie asked, tilting her head and blinking.

"Our materia. Ma-tear-e-uh. You know," Astrid held up her sword and pointed to the empty holes on the pommel and at the base of the blade, "The small, glassy balls that go here? I had a 'Thunder' and an 'Enemy Skill', and I believe Red had a 'Fire'. You took them, give them back."

"As if!" Yuffie shouted, dropping her 'good Samaritan' act for a moment before rebounding and saying, "I'd never take anyone's materia! That's—"

"Cut the performance, ninja." Astrid scoffed, sheathing her sword and crossing her arms, "I know you have them, and I did not spend the last two weeks leveling them up just to have them stolen, so give them back."

The girl balked, then rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Looks like you're sharper than I thought, lady. But that's all the praise you're getting from me!" She reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out the materia. "I stole 'em fairly so there're mine! You want 'em, you'll have to fight against me! The great Shadow Ninja!"

"Oh, dear!" Astrid cried, slapping her hands on her cheeks, "What ever shall we do?! How shall we ever defeat the great Shadow Ninja?! Ignoring the fact that we beat her once, she's got one hand! What are the odds?!"

During this time, Yuffie had pursed her lips and was becoming gradually and gradually redder. When Astrid was done, the ninja howled in outrage, "THAT'S IT! I've HAD it! Kyyaaaa!!"

Raising a brow when Yuffie ran at her, Astrid waited until the last possible moment before she spun out of the way and stuck out her leg, tripping Yuffie. When the ninja crashed to the ground, Astrid walked over to her and sat on her back, pressing Yuffie's head into the ground with her hand.

"Admit it!" Yuffie screamed, her good arm flailing, "You're shaking in fear right now! You're scared of what I'm going to do to you!"

Astrid smirked and rolled her eyes, "Petrified."

"I'm the most skilled fighter you've ever met, and you're almost peeing your pants!" The girl screamed on, trying to roll onto her back.

"Yep." The older teen replied lazily, leaning forward to pressing her full weight into the younger girl's shoulder blades, "You're definitely more powerful than all of my companions and I put together. Against you, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"…There's no need to be so hard on yourself." Yuffie wheezed, coughing a bit of air into her lungs before going on, "I'm thinking about joining your group. If I use you as a sample of their strength, you need all the help you can get."

"Not interested." Astrid said, nodding to Red XIII as he walked forward with the three materia in his mouth. Yuffie hadn't realized she'd dropped them when she'd charged Astrid. Pushing herself off of the girl, Astrid stood and stretched, "Thanks for the offer, though. Well, we're off."

She hadn't taken ten steps when Yuffie jumped to her feet and began to run after her, "Wait! Don't leave me! I want to come!"

Mounting Orchid, who had been waiting patiently, Astrid looked down at the girl and frowned, "No more funny business, eh? It'll look bad for me if I bring in a new person, just to have them pilfer all our stuff and disappear with it."

"I swear!" Yuffie jumped to raise her right hand, but winced and dropped it, raising her left instead.

"Alright." Astrid nodded, then reached into the chocobo's saddlebag and pulled out a Potion. She tossed it to the girl, "Drink this, then we'll be off."

Yuffie uncorked the Potion and quickly downed it, wincing when her elbow popped back into place. "Owie…" She glared up at Astrid, "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

Astrid shrugged, "Did you have to steal my materia?"

The girl grumbled, tossing the empty bottle over her shoulder. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Good." Astrid nodded and turned her chocobo, tapping its sides and heading out of the forest.

"W-wait!" Yuffie shouted, running after her. "What about me?!"

Not stopping Orchid, the older teen looked back at the ninja and blinked, "What about you, Miss…" She pulled the chocobo to a stop and turned back, "Well, waddaya know? I don't believe we ever introduced ourselves." She shook her head and muttered, "Terribly rude of both of us…"

"Yuffie Kisaragi, great Shadow Ninja of Wutai, at your service." Yuffie bowed, smiling.

"Astrid Cray, great Wanderer of the Void, and I'll keep my services to myself."

The girl looked at the older teen and tilted her head, "Huh?"

Astrid sighed and waved her off, "Never mind. Anyway, you were complaining about something, Yuffie?"

The ninja thought about this for a moment, then clasped her hands together and whimpered in a pitiful voice, "You aren't going to make little old me walk, are you?"

Taking a moment to think about this, Astrid faced forward in her saddle again and said, "Yes." She then nudged her chocobo's sides, smirking as Yuffie ran after her, screaming and cursing alongside an amused Red XIII.

'One optional character down, one to go.'


	14. Military City Junon

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Military City Junon)

Though Astrid found it substantially amusing to watch Yuffie run after a chocobo on foot, she let Red XIII talk her into taking the girl on the bird so they could go faster. Though it had taken far less time to find the ninja than she had figured, Astrid knew that Cloud wouldn't slow his pace and that he just might leave them behind.

When Yuffie clambered behind Astrid and grabbed her waist, Astrid faced forward and urged the chocobo into high gear. The ninja screamed slightly as the bird jumped into action, but calmed down and focused her energy on keeping her grip around her companion's stomach.

Making sure that Red XIII was running alongside them, Astrid leaned forward and asked for even more speed from the bird, who complied shakily, Orchid quickly reaching her limit.

"Why are we going so fast?!"

Astrid winced when Yuffie screamed into her ear, frowning and shouting back, "We gotta catch up with the rest of my group! Don't want them waiting on us for too long! Cloud'd kill me!"

"Cloud?" The ninja fidgeted, clasping her fingers together around Astrid's stomach, "Is he your group's leader?"

"Yeah, he is," Astrid nodded, "You'll notice him right away when you see him. His sword and hair are distinctive, to say the least."

"What about the rest of your group?"

"There's Barret, a huge guy with a gun on his arm; Tifa, a martial artist with big… muscles; Aerith, a staff-wielder with a pink dress; Red XIII, whom you've already met." She nodded at the cat as he bound up at the mention of his name, "He obviously uses his claws and teeth, but he also uses the blades on his headdress."

"What about you?"

"Swords and, every so often, guns." Astrid grunted, pressing herself lower in the saddle, "Hold on. There are a few uneven areas ahead."

They made it across the plains fairly quickly, the cliff wall that Junon was built against coming into view in a couple of hours. As they drew closer, the layout of the city, which had always confused Astrid, began to make more and more sense.

The original town of Junon had been a simple settlement at the base of the cliff, but it was obvious that Shin-Ra had made a few adjustments, to say the least. An entire shelf of metal and asphalt had been built over the old city in several layers, each one built into the side of the cliff. A line of gridiron bars jutted up from the ocean and supported the edge of the addition, and around the edges were networks of thick steel cables, trailing back and boring into the top of the rock face. Built by Shin-Ra or not, Astrid knew that she definitely did not want to live there, ever.

As they rode up to the edge of the city, they passed several riderless chocobos and Orchid started to get antsy, 'wark'ing and scratching her feet as her fellow herd members spoke to her. She looked back at Astrid and snorted, rolling her eyes.

Astrid sighed, "You want to head back with them." When the chocobo snorted again, Astrid and Yuffie dismounted, removing the items from the saddlebags. Astrid smiled when the chocobo 'wark'ed happily, then turned and ran after her heard, all of them taking off back towards the chocobo farm.

"Let's go, Astrid." Red XIII nudged her leg, "The others are probably waiting for us."

In town, Astrid was thrown off by the layout of the streets. Though Junon still counted as a small fishing town, it was a bit more elaborate than the game had portrayed it as and not everything was clean-cut. For example, there were several sets of stairs that led down to the ocean, rather than one.

Another example was that in this town, unlike Kalm, the people didn't just let you walk into their houses. Which was fortunate; if Astrid had to deal with another town like Kalm, she was sure she would go insane.

They skimmed the streets and investigated the beaches a bit, but there was no sign of anyone from the group.

"You sure that this 'group' you were traveling with wasn't just… you know, in your imagination?" Yuffie asked skeptically, eyeing Astrid in a critical fashion.

Astrid rolled her eyes and sighed, "Look, if they were imaginary, do you honestly think Red wouldn't have told you? Seriously, he is apart of a brilliant race."

"He could be a crazy, too." The ninja muttered, falling back to walk behind the older teen.

Walking up to a house, Astrid knocked on the door and smiled pleasantly when an old woman answered a second later, "Hello, I was wondering if you could help me? You see, me and the group I was traveling with were separated, and we all agreed to meet up here, in Junon. Have you, by chance, seen an odd group led by a guy with gravity defying blonde hair and a huge sword walking around?"

The woman blinked, replying hesitantly, "There was a group that came to town about an hour ago. I'm not sure about the man you described, but I heard they're staying at Mirza's house. It's at the edge of town and has a red door. You can't miss it." With that, the door slammed shut. Astrid, Yuffie, and Red watched, disturbed, as they heard several bolts and chains clank against the wood.

'From uber friendly to uber conservative… great.' Sighing, Astrid shook her head and turned from the door, leading the way back to the town entrance. The house didn't take very long to find, seeing as it was probably the only house in town with a bright red door (all the others were the color of the wood used to make the door). She knocked on the door and waited.

After five minutes, she knocked again. This time, someone hissed harshly through the door, "Who is it?!"

Astrid rolled her eyes and replied, "It is I, Astridellia Crayson, Bearer of the Light and Seeker of the Truth. I come bearing the Seal of the King and I ask to be permitted into this abode so that I might deliver it to the one known as Cloudolfus Strifensky of the Archipelago of Nonsense and Philanthropy."

There was a pause, followed by the door opening and someone peeking their head out, "What?"

"Damn it, Barret, let me in!" Astrid snarled, pushing passed the gunman and stumbling into the room, Yuffie and Red following close behind. Upon regaining her balance, Astrid was bombarded by hugs from Aerith and Tifa, who were going on about how worried they were about her and asking if she was okay. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She grumbled, pushing them off, "Lemme get some air, for Gaia's sake!"

"Astrid." She winced and turned to Cloud, who was pointing his sword and Yuffie and glaring at the ninja. He growled, "Who is this?"

"Yuffie Kisaragi." Astrid replied immediately, stepping between the point of the blade and the girl, "I found her in the woods. She said she wanted to join us, and I figured we'd need some more help. We are, after all, going against Sephiroth and Shin-Ra, and I highly doubt that just six of us were going to cut it."

"So, you brought it upon yourself to invite someone into this party without consulting me first?" Cloud snarled, glaring at Astrid now.

"I'm terribly sorry," Astrid snapped, unrepentant, "But you weren't there, and I had to think realistically about our chances. And, realistically speaking, we need her help."

The room was silent for a moment, then Cloud lowered his sword and looked passed Astrid, scowling at the girl behind her, "I'll be watching you."

Astrid rolled her eyes as he stalked away, not bothering to turn as she addressed the ninja, "It's alright, Yuffie, that's just how Cloud is. You get used to it." Shaking her head, she then walked over to one of the empty beds in the corner of the room and crashed on it. "I take it this is where we'll be sleeping tonight?"

"It is." Aerith answered, sitting down beside her young friend, "These people don't have an inn down here, but Cloud saved a little girl that lives here, so they said that we could sleep in this house whenever we wanted."

"That's nice." Astrid mumbled, eyes closing heavily. She heard what she thought was Yuffie making an introduction, but she was asleep before she could discern what was being said.

"Astrid." The voice was so commanding, Astrid couldn't help but answer it immediately.

She sat up and looked around the room in confusion. She was still in the house in Junon, but she was the only one there; the rest of the group was gone. 'Where…?'

"It doesn't matter, Astrid," She turned and found Marcus standing at the foot of her bed, his arms crossed and a glare aimed at her, "What I have to say isn't for them; just you."

"Marcus." She leapt out of the bed and grabbed his arm, looking down at him sternly, deciding to try a different approach to dealing with her rogue brother. Even if he was stronger than her, he was still younger than her. That had to mean something… right? She shook off her doubts and said firmly, "I want you to quit traveling with Sephiroth and come back to me. What you're doing isn't safe."

Marcus looked at her incredulously, "'Safe'?!" He burst out laughing, clutching his stomach with his hands, "All this time to find an argument to bring me back, and all you have to say is it 'isn't safe'?! That's rich, Astrid."

"Marcus, this is serious!" She knelt down before him and grabbed his arms, looking at him imploringly, "You know just as well as I do, if not better, who and what Sephiroth is and what he can do! What he plans to do! Marcus, you can't help him with this! Please… come back."

"What Master Sephiroth is doing," Marcus snapped, yanking himself out of his sister's grasp, "Is far beyond our understanding. All we can do is sit back and let him do what Jenova wants him to."

"What Jenova wants him to do is wrong, Marcus!" Astrid moaned, taking her brother's hands in hers, "Jenova wants him to destroy a planet. Jenova wants him to kill the planet and all of the people on it! Don't you see what's wrong with that?"

"This is more than 'right' and 'wrong', Astrid. This is something far more than that." He pulled his hands out of hers and pushed her back, glaring down at her, "I'll only tell you this one more time, Astrid, and that is it: Quit following me. Go back to Midgar and wait out the rest of your pitiful existence. Find a boyfriend or get a job; do something to make your life more… complete, because soon enough, it's all going to end, just," He raised a gun she hadn't noticed he had been holding, "like," he pointed it at her head, the hammer clicking back, "that." He fired.

"Astrid!"

She woke and looked around herself with wide eyes, tears and sweat streaming down her face and panting heavily. Aerith and Red were looking at her worriedly, Aerith reaching out and placing a hand on her forehead, "Astrid? Are you alright?"

Sighing, Astrid fell away from Aerith's hand and landed heavily on her pillow, staring at the ceiling tiredly, "Just a bad dream…"

"It was Marcus again, wasn't it?" Red asked softly, nuzzling her shoulder.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, "I'm not sure how much longer I can take this… he's driving me insane and he doesn't see that Sephiroth is just using him… Or… he does, and he just doesn't care."

"Don't worry, Astrid." Aerith soothed, pulling her friend into a hug, "We'll get him back."

Astrid hugged Aerith back, then looked around the room, "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, right!" Aerith bounced back and smiled, a sneaky gleam in her eyes, "We're breaking into upper Junon."

"Are we, now?" Astrid chuckled, jumping to her feet. She arched her back and cracked her knuckles, grinning roguishly, "Well then, let's break into another restricted Shin-Ra zone."


	15. Infiltration and Stowaways

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Infiltration and Stowaways)

"Okay, would someone please run this by me again?" Astrid muttered, gaze shifting between the girl and dolphin in front of her and the gridiron above.

The girl, Priscilla, sighed snappishly and said in a pitchy voice, "Mr. Dolphin is going to help you jump up to the bars so you can get into the upper part of Junon! When you're there, you can sneak onto a ship and take it to Costa del Sol!"

Astrid frowned and looked at the dolphin, "I'm pretty sure that it's physically impossible for that dolphin to get—"

"It's the only way, Astrid!" Tifa cut in, "We've gotta hope that it will." But, even after saying this, Tifa herself looked a bit skeptical.

Sighing, Cloud took the whistle that Priscilla proffered and jumped into the water, grabbing a hold of the dolphin as it swam by. The animal then positioned itself under the gridiron and waited for Cloud to blow the whistle, diving back under and jumping up when the man did. Cloud fumbled for a moment, then grabbed the bars and hung on as the dolphin fell back into the water.

He hefted himself up and turned back to the party, throwing the whistle to Barret, "Get yourselves disguised and dispersed. If anyone hears anything about a ship heading to Costa del Sol, use your PHS to call the rest of us. Sneak in and we'll rendezvous onboard." He then turned and clambered up the gridiron, disappearing over the edge.

Tifa went next, then Barret, then Aerith. When Astrid and Red were the only ones left, they realized that they had reached an unforeseen dilemma.

"Uh, Red… how are you going to get up?"

The feline shook his head and sighed, "We should have noticed this before Barret went."

Astrid disagreed, "I don't think that would have meant anything; the dolphin was already struggling with Barret as it was." She looked at her friend and shrugged, "I'll take you."

Red looked at her skeptically, "Can you?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "We'll have to do something, Red." With that, she waded into the water and grabbed onto the dolphin as he swam up, taking the whistle and clamping it in her teeth firmly. She then turned and pressed her body against the dolphin's side, "Can you hold on to my back?"

"I'm not sure." The feline stepped into the water cautiously, crawling onto Astrid's back and securing his paws over her shoulders. "Is this alright?"

She winced slightly when his claws contracted and pinched her shoulders, but brushed it off and nodded, "Yeah, that's fine with me. Now, let's see if Mr. Dolphin can handle it." She blew the whistle once and the dolphin swam out, sinking beneath the surface as soon as Astrid's feet were no longer able to hold them up.

The dolphin tried to resurface several times, but was unable to. Astrid looked up, though, and, noticing they were positioned right under the gridiron, made a high-pitched hum in the back of her throat. The dolphin got this and shot upwards, breaking the surface and flying into the air, raising above the gridiron.

Astrid felt Red's claws tighten for a moment as he repositioned himself. When the gridiron began to pass them again as they fell, Red jumped off of her back and landed on the bars, turning and grabbing Astrid by the back of her sweater. There was a ripping sound as she was yanked from the back of the dolphin and slammed hard on the bars, knocking the wind out of her.

As the dolphin splashed back into the water below, Red nuzzled Astrid's arm and muttered, "Sorry, Astrid."

"It's alright." She gasped, sitting up and taking in huge breaths of air. She coughed, then said, "It could have gone worse. How bad is the tear in my sweater?" She stood and turned, giving him a full view of the damage.

The feline winced, "It goes from your shoulder blades and straight down through the hem at the bottom. The sweater's ruined."

"Oh, well." She shrugged, wringing out her hair, "It's not like I wasn't going to have to abandon it when we disguise ourselves as Shin-Ra workers. I've got plenty more, anyway." Throwing her hair over her shoulder, she turned back to the girl, "Hey! Priscilla! Thanks for the help!" She drew her arm back and threw the whistle back to the girl, watching as she took a few steps back and caught it.

"Wait!" Astrid turned back to the girl, who threw something back, a glittering red ball leaving her fingers and arcing into the air. Catching it, Astrid listened as Priscilla said, "It's some powerful materia! Give it to Cloud and tell him I said good luck! I'll be waiting for him to come back and marry me!"

Astrid stared at the girl incredulously, then shook her head and began to climb the gridiron, shoving the materia into her pocket. As she climbed, she felt the knowledge of the materia seep through her pant pocket and enter her mind, where it settled down by the other materia knowledge.

'_Hello. I am Shiva. It is a pleasure to finally meet someone who can use me._'

Astrid gasped and faltered, her hand slipping and her foot fighting to keep purchase on the slippery metal.

"Astrid?!" Red shouted from just behind her, "What is it?!"

"I think a summon materia just talked to me!" She shouted back, throwing her arm back at the metal lattice and holding on to it for dear life.

She heard the feline sigh as he replied, "Don't worry, summon materia does that. I've been listening to the Chocobo/Mog materia fight with itself since the chocobo farm."

Astrid shuddered, then began climbing again, thinking to herself, 'Jeez… first abusive cacti, then the creepy people in Kalm, now talking materia, not to mention everything else that's happened… This place is insane!'

At the top, Astrid crawled over the edge of the wall and dropped onto the street, ducking out of the way of any spectators. When she heard Red jump down beside her, she stood and walked beside him and down the street. The sidewalks were crowded with people cheering and celebrating, and they both realized why when they saw the red banners hanging from the buildings. 'Rufus's inauguration…'

"Looks like Rufus was serious about ruling with fear; look at all of the armed soldiers parading around in the streets." She muttered, slipping down an alley.

Red nodded, glancing up and down the streets. "How are we going to get disguises?"

"Well, Shin-Ra is using Junon as a second military base, so they've gotta have some barracks around here somewhere." Astrid offered, watching the soldiers as they marched passed, "I'm guessing that if we follow them for long enough, they'll eventually lead us somewhere."

"Right." Red nodded again, observing the soldiers, "It looks like there are two main columns going in opposite directions. We'll each take one and call if they lead to any barracks."

"Okay." Astrid nodded, stepping out of the alley, "I'll take the column heading north."

"Then I'll take the southern column." He stepped out beside her and began to walk to the left. He glanced back at her, still walking, "If you get in any trouble, call everyone and warn them."

"Good luck, Red!" Astrid shouted over the crowd as his red pelt disappeared from sight. She then turned right and began pushing her way through the mass of people, keeping an eye on the soldiers. When she arrived at the large elevators in time to see Rufus taking one up, she pulled out her PHS and dialed, speaking when he answered, "Hey, Red. It was my column. Just come back the way I went and keep going until you arrive at a set of huge elevators. Underneath the archway is a set of doors. I'm not sure which, but wander around until you find the barracks; everyone's in too much of a hurry to notice anyone walking around."

"Thanks, Astrid." Red answered, his claws scraping on the asphalt as he turned sharply and began to run, "I'm on my way, so you go ahead. Keep out of sight."

"Gotcha. Over and out." She turned off the phone and walked through the doors. Inside, there were several soldiers running around in a panic, shouting to each other and throwing weapons around. She grabbed one man as he ran passed her and curtsied, "Hello, I'm with the uniform and weapon maintenance service. Could you please tell me where the nearest locker room is?"

"Straight ahead and to your left. Make sure to shine 'em good for President Rufus!" He slapped her butt and ran off, shouting into a walkie-talkie.

Twitching, Astrid stormed in the direction the man had pointed her in, fuming and glaring at anyone who passed her.

"_If you'd like,_" Shiva interjected, "_We could hunt him down and leave him as an ice sculpture for his comrades to find._"

"Thanks, Shiva." Astrid muttered, opening the only door in the hall and walking in amongst several rows of lockers, "Sounds tempting, but I think I'll pass. Cloud would kill me if I blew our cover." She walked to the first open locker she could find and opened it, pumping her fists at what she found inside, "Yes! A Senior Grunt uniform!" She pulled it out and began dressing.

"_Though I do agree that it is fortunate that you found a higher ranking officials uniform, doesn't it show your face a bit too much?_"

"Relax, Shiv." Astrid replied, tying her hair back and shoving it into the red hat of the uniform, "By the time I'm done with myself, no one will be able to recognize me." She shoved padding into a few areas of the uniform, then searched the other lockers until she found a pair of glasses. Glancing at herself in a mirror, she struck a pose. "What do you think?"

"…_Well, you definitely don't look like yourself, but are you sure that a… buxom female with reading glasses and a tight uniform would make it as a Senior Grunt?_"

Astrid shrugged, "Hey, if I were a corrupt, lusty general, I'd promote me."

"…_As you wish._"

"Let's just see how people react, first." Astrid said, adjusting her glasses, "If too many people react negatively, then I'll make a few adjustments."

As it turned out, most of the reviews Astrid received were largely positive. As she walked down the hall, she received whistles, a few hollers, and even a couple of wolf howls. Any females she passed glared at her, and though she did receive confused looks from a few senior officers, they brushed her off and continued on their way.

'Hmm, looks like female officers might not be entirely as uncommon as I thought.'

"_True. But they do appear largely unappreciated by the older soldiers._"

'Eh, probably just the size of my chest. I might have gone a bit overboard.'

On her way out of the complex, Astrid passed by Red XIII, who was glancing around nervously and keeping in the shadows as well as he could. Smirking, Astrid walked up to the feline, "Hello, kitty."

Red XIII froze and looked up at her, hackles rising and a growl forming in the back of his throat.

"Oh, my, my, what an angry kitty." She smirked and leaned forward, tilting her head, "Forget me, already?"

Red narrowed his eyes, sniffing the air slightly, then blinked, "Astrid?"

She giggled, "Hey, Red."

The feline shook his head and let out a relieved sigh, "Thought I was in trouble, for a moment." He then glared up at her, "Was cornering me necessary?"

"Not really." She stood straight and brushed herself off, "The locker-room is down the hall and to the left. Only door on the left side of the entire corridor. It should still be fairly empty and quite a few lockers are open, but I suggest you take a blue uniform. It'll hide your face better."

"Right." He nodded, "Are you going to look for the ship?"

"Yeah. I'll call if I find out anything."

"Keep an eye out for the others." Red nodded, "Cloud called and warned me that the Turks are here, but he told me to tell you so your PHS wouldn't go off and get you caught."

"Thanks, Nanaki." She smiled and started walking, "Good luck! I'll be in touch."

The feline shook his head and ran down the hall and into the locker-room.

Outside of the complex, Astrid headed to the right and walked right onto the street that led to the cargo ship. Instead of heading down it immediately, though, she started to check out the shops, looking for a weapons shop so she could find someone to remove the plug that Cloud had put in Vincent's gun so no water would get in the barrel. It had been useful earlier when she was in the ocean, but now that she was walking among groups of people and soldiers, she really wished that she had at least the gun to lean on for defense.

Unfortunately, all of the shop owners were off watching the parade, and the only establishment open was the bar. Rather than walk around in the open unarmed, Astrid chose to sit in the bar and work on getting the plug out of the gun. She sat in the far corner and ordered a water, unloading the gun and working at the plug. 'How in the hell did Cloud put this thing in?!'

She had been at it for three minutes when the bar door slammed open and several people came stumbling in, one voice standing above the rest in familiarity as it shouted, "Finally, we managed to get out of that crowd!" 'Reno…'

"Hmm, yes. That was decidedly unpleasant." 'Rude…'

"Ugh, are all of the big celebrations like this so busy?" 'Elena…'

"Usually, though there are a few we can actually relax for." 'Tseng…'

'Shit.' Astrid turned her back more towards the main section of the bar, hunching over and trying to stay inconspicuous. 'Not good, not good, not good, not good!' This definitely wasn't good. Why hadn't she remembered that the Turks came to the bar?! 'Damn it!'

"Yo, barkeep!" Reno shouted, grunting as he dropped into a seat, "A round of the Malboro 'Toxic Breath' Special." As the Turks began to talk amongst each other, Astrid stood slowly and began to slink towards the door. Unfortunately…

"Hey! You! Miss Tight Skirt!" She froze and glanced back, the barkeeper glaring at her and jerking his thumb at her table, "You gonna pay for your drink?"

Noticing that the Turks attention was now on her, Astrid decided to drop the 'sneak out' attempt and just play along with the scene. "You're going to charge me for an untouched glass of grimy water?" She scoffed, putting on a bit of a higher pitched voice, "I had no idea that services in Junon were so cheap."

"Untouched or not, you still ordered it. Pay up." The man grunted, holding out a hand.

Astrid quirked a brow, "Why don't you just pour the water back in the toilet you dredged it out of? At least it wouldn't be going to waste, and you wouldn't have to worry about paying your water bill." Still, she walked over to the bar and dropped several gil onto the counter.

The man scowled and glared at her as she turned away, "Hussy."

"Hussy?!" Astrid screamed, spinning around and accidentally dropping into her normal voice. She quickly switched back and went on, "Why you son of a bi—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Reno interjected, standing and holding out his hands, "Just stop everything!" He ran forward and pulled Astrid back, glaring at the barkeeper, "Look, the lady paid for her drink, so why don't you just back off?"

Grumbling, the barkeeper turned away and stormed off into the back room.

When he was sure the man was gone, Reno turned to Astrid and gave her a once-over… several times. "You alright?"

Astrid fought off the urge to scoff and roll her eyes. 'The man didn't even touch me.' But, she kept up with the act and pouted, "Some people can be so… so… so rude!" She spouted, her voice raising on the last note.

Reno smiled apathetically and nodded, "I know. All of these people in Junon are roughnecks. Say, you wanna join my friends and me for a drink?"

At this, Astrid nearly deadpanned. Reno was hitting on her! This was something she couldn't let develop. "Oh, I would if I could, but I gotta go meet up with my company." She answered, backing away slowly. She was just turning to walk out when she noticed that Vincent's gun was missing from its holster. She glanced around. 'Where?...'

"You lookin' for this?" She turned back and frowned when she saw Reno holding the gun, twirling it on one finger by the trigger guard. He smirked slyly, "Kinda sexy when a girl is packin'."

Astrid smiled painfully at the double-entendre. 'He's talking about my fake breasts, but he's passing it off as talking about the gun and my sword. That sly, perverted bastard.' "Oh, well," She laughed lightly, walking up to him and taking his arm, "If you insist."

"Oh, I do." Reno said smoothly, leading her back to the table, "We've all got our break time right now, and I could always cover for you if your superiors come calling. Have a seat." He pulled up a chair for her, right beside his, "Relax." He pushed her down and sat himself, his hands trailing on her shoulders, "And have a good time."

By now, they were in such close proximity that Astrid was glad the bar was dim. If it wasn't, one of the Turks would be bound to notice her. Astrid snapped out of her thoughts when Reno started laughing. She looked at him, slightly dazed, "What?"

"What were you planning on doing with this?" Reno held up the gun and pointed to the plug in the barrel, smirking.

Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes, "One of my friends did that, and I have no idea how to get if off."

"I'll take care of that for ya!" Reno said brightly, getting to work on the plug.

"So…" Astrid turned to Elena, who was scrutinizing her carefully, "Who are you and were did you transfer from? If you don't mind my asking."

Looking closer at Elena's face, Astrid nearly started laughing. Elena was a bit spiteful of Astrid's new figure. Being around the Turks was making it hard to stay in character; she wanted to be sarcastic and joke around with them like they used to. She sobered up, though, and continued her act. "My name is Zoë and I just came in from Rocket Town." She looked at each of the Turks. "What's up with the suits? Who are you guys?"

"We're the Turks." Elena declared triumphantly, crossing her arms and grinning widely.

At this, Astrid couldn't help it. "Well, aren't you, like, special?" She asked in the most sarcastic, thickest 'Valley Girl' accent she could pour on. She even ran her fingers through her hair and flipped it, batting her eyelashes. She loved it: it was sarcastic; it was perfect; it caught Elena totally off guard; it brought her back on top!

Then, she started to regret it. After she had said it, all of the Turks looked at her incredulously, some with eyes wide and some with raised brows. Then, even as she looked at them, some recognition began to show in their eyes.

"Ast—"

"Oh, would you look at that!" She declared suddenly, dropping her high-pitched voice and taking the gun and the plug out of Reno's hands, "You got them separated!" She stood abruptly and began to back away, smiling widely and bowing over and over again, "Thank you so much! I'm sure we'll never see each other again, so it was nice to meet you. Ta ta!" She ran out the door and bolted down the street, throwing herself through the door and flying onto the ship.


	16. Sea Battle

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Sea Battle)

Onboard the cargo ship, she slid passed everyone she saw and ducked down behind a box, breathing heavily as she buckled the gun back in its holster and shoving the plug into her pocket. That encounter had been way too close, possibly dangerous if the Turks decided to report it. 'Which I seriously doubt they would, but…'

When she had calmed down, she crawled out from behind the box and straightened herself out, fixing her chest and pulling her pants out even. She then held her head high and began to walk around, ignoring the flirtatious looks several men sent her and looking for her company. The first she found was Yuffie, who was curled up between some boxes and moaning piteously.

"Yuffie, you okay?"

The girl looked up and squinted, "Astrid?" When the older teen nodded, Yuffie moaned again, "No, I'm not okay. I hate the ocean."

"Seasickness, huh?" Astrid winced when the girl moaned again, "You need anything?"

Yuffie rolled onto her stomach and grabbed her head, her answer a muffled, "You got a Tranquilizer?"

Astrid went off and found one in one of the many boxes in the cargo hold, brining it back to the ninja as soon as she found it. "Here."

"Thanks." Yuffie took the syringe and popped the cap off, sliding the needle beneath her skin. By this time, Astrid was long gone. After being Hojo's lab rat, she couldn't stand needles.

After walking a bit more downstairs, she managed to find Aerith, who let out a shocked laugh at her attire, then turned away and shook her head. Astrid decided to leave her alone. 'Looks like she's going into her 'I'm a higher-thinking Ancient' mode.'

Up on the deck, she saw Tifa standing on a platform and looking out over the ocean, Barret standing near the railing and looking at his body in the sailor suit, Cloud leaning against the wall of the bridge, and Red XIII up on the deck on top of the bridge, practicing walking on two legs. She decided to go talk to Tifa.

"Hey."

Tifa jumped and spun around, saluting when she saw the uniform Astrid was wearing, "Ma'am! I… I was just—"

"Cool it, Tifa!" Astrid cut in, laughing, "It's just me."

"O-oh! Astrid?! Is that really?" She looked the teen up and down, nodded, "Nice job. I didn't even recognize you! But, did you really have to make yourself so…" She stared at the teen's fake chest.

"Hehe, yeah." Astrid scratched the back of her head, "It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I kinda regret it now."

"Don't." Tifa said firmly, shaking her head, "It really helps disguise you and makes you look like a completely different person." She trailed off, then seemed to realize what she had said and started shaking her hands, "Not that I'm calling you flat-chested, by any standard! I was just—"

"It's okay." Astrid laughed again. When Tifa looked a bit nervous, the teen smiled, "Seriously, it's fine. I get what you're saying, and I didn't take it in an offensive manner in any way. Promise."

Tifa sighed and leaned back, "This is terrible."

Astrid tilted her head, "What is?"

"It's just." Tifa sighed again, "I was so rude to you in the beginning, and I still kinda am, and that's made things awkward between us." She crossed her arms and shook her head, "You're a nice person and I don't want it to be like that, but that's how it turned out. I'm sorry."

Astrid shook her head and smiled, "Tifa, Tifa, Tifa, the only one making this awkward is you. Not to say that harshly," Astrid raised her hands when Tifa's head snapped up at her, "But that's how it is. You're spending too much time worrying about treading on dangerous ground rather than saying what you feel. You just gotta… loosen up." Astrid kicked out her feet and spun in a circle, wiggling her fingers, "Lay it low and get footloose. Cool it. Play it smooth." Astrid smiled and threw an arm around Tifa's shoulders, "You do that, and I promise you won't get grey hairs before you're twenty-seven."

Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes, "I now remember why I was rude to you." Nonetheless, the woman smiled.

"Hey! You! Woman in the red uniform!"

Astrid jumped away from Tifa and looked over the railing, panicking when she saw one of the actual ship hands waving at her, "The captain wants to see all uniformed officers in five minutes. Report to the bridge immediately!" He turned and ran off.

Blanching, Astrid turned to Tifa and whispered desperately, "What am I going to do?"

"Just go." Tifa pushed her towards the ladder, "Listen in to what's going on, but don't say anything. I'll get the others gathered so you can tell us what you heard."

Astrid nodded and climbed down the ladder, regretting now more than ever that she had chosen to wear the Senior Grunt uniform. 'I should have known that this would only lead to trouble.'

As she walked towards the bridge, she saw several other officers in red approaching, as well. A few threw some lecherous looks her way, but a majority just started at the door and walked in after her. As the men began to line up, Astrid isolated herself and stood in the back, standing behind several tall men and trying to stay inconspicuous.

"Alright, men," Astrid jumped into the air and yelped when a door slammed open right beside her and Rufus stormed out. He paused and glanced at Astrid, quirking a brow as she sunk back and covered her face, "And ladies, apparently." He shook his head and continued, "It would appear as though there are several… stowaways onboard. Discretely and quickly, I want them found and identified, but no more than that. Also, if any of you find onboard a man in a black cloak with silver hair or a young boy in similar attire with grey hair," Astrid felt her heart drop at this, but Rufus's next words calmed her, "Do not engage them. Report to the bridge and notify an official immediately." He flicked back his hair and waved his hand, "That is all. You're dismissed."

Astrid slipped passed the man and ran out the door, crashing into a man in a blue uniform and a large man in a white sailors suit. "Cloud! Barret!"

"Quiet!" Cloud hissed, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her beneath a tarp, leaving Barret behind. He tugged up his mask and looked at her, "Alright, what did you hear?"

"Rufus is onboard and he gave orders for the officers to find and identify several stowaways, so I think he may suspect we're here." She waited for Cloud to finish swearing before she continued, "But, he didn't say how many stowaways and he didn't want them apprehended, so he might think it's someone else. Also, he warned the officers that Sephiroth and Marcus might be aboard, and that they aren't to fight them but report them to the bridge."

"Sephiroth and Marcus." Cloud shook his head and sighed, "Damn." He fell silent and started to think.

Astrid frowned and cut in, "Let's just lay low until Costa del Sol. I know that we want to stop Sephiroth and Marcus," She added hastily when Cloud glared up at her, "But Rufus is onboard. And if Rufus is here, then the Turks and maybe SOLDIER might be close by, and I don't think it's a good idea to risk those odds while using this small cargo ship as a battlefield, especially when Shin-Ra could send out more soldiers whenever they wish."

"Fine." Cloud nodded, peeking beneath the tarp before turning back to her and whispering, "Spread the word. Nobody is to have close contact with any other member of the group. Keep yourselves spread out with the other workers on the ship. Nobody uses their PHS unless there's word of Sephiroth and Marcus on the move." He glanced under the tarp again, then waved to her, "Let's go."

Outside of the tarp, Astrid quickly told Aerith and Yuffie about the plan then began to patrol the deck. She stopped a few times to make a few suggestions to several workers and ask some other Senior Grunts about their status, but otherwise kept herself largely unnoticed.

The evening fell and Astrid decided to turn in, following several other tired Seniors in the direction she hoped the barracks were in. She had just opened the door and saw the heavenly looking cots when someone called out to her.

"Hey, woman!" She turned to find an older, grizzled man in a red uniform glaring at her, "You n' me got first watch for the next three hours. Let's get goin'."

Moaning, she took a final fleeting glance at the cots before turning and slumping after the man. She saw him glare down at her as she walked up beside him and threw him a pout, "Why are we doing this?"

"Kids." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "We're doing it for safety reasons, o' course. Or did you not hear the President warn us that Sephiroth and that kid might be on board?"

"It's Marcus." She muttered low enough that she didn't think the man had heard her.

He was silent for a moment, then glanced at her waist, "You know how to use either of those?"

"Huh?" She looked down to see what he was talking about, sighing when she saw her sword and Vincent's gun. "I'm good enough at using my sword, but the gun is really just a last resort."

"Hmm."

She looked back ahead of herself, eyes scanning the shadows for any movement. When she could feel him staring at her again, she couldn't suppress a shudder, "Can I help you?"

"How did you land this promotion? You father work for the higher-ups or something?" He asked bluntly.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, sick of all of the sexual implications that had been thrown her way recently, "I don't know, why don't you tell me how you think I got this job. Or has the consensus not changed in the past five hours?"

"Nope." The man answered shortly, "Most of the people still think you're a slut and that you slept with several of the higher-ups, though they are still in disagreement about whether you slept with them one at a time or all at once."

"Go figure." She muttered lamely.

They were silent for a moment, devoting their attention to studying the shadows.

"It's not true, though." Shocked, she looked at the man, who was shaking his head and scowling, "That's just what those bastards like to think; gives 'em a bit of entertainment. But you aren't like that." He glanced at her, "Yer not that stupid." He stopped, then looked right at her, "Don't get me wrong; you're stupid, just not that stupid."

The three hours went by fairly quickly, and Astrid went the next day without interacting with anyone from the group. That night, when Astrid had first watch with the old man again…

"Somethin' ain't right." The man muttered an hour into the watch.

Astrid looked around, hand inching up to the hilt of her sword, "How can you tell?"

"Too quiet." He unstrapped his handgun and cocked it, nodding to her, "You watch the left. I'll take the right."

They split up and walked to opposite sides of the ship, Astrid keeping the man in her peripheral vision until he walked behind a stack of boxes. She drew her sword slowly, the blade whispering slightly as it brushed against the locket of the scabbard. She knelt slightly and inched forward, keeping herself hidden in the shadows.

A cry tore through the cold night air and the loud crack of a gun sounded soon after. Astrid jumped to her feet, abandoning the need to keep quiet and running to where the scream and shot had come from. The scream had sounded a bit like it had come from her partner's voice…

As she rounded the corner of a large crate, Astrid stumbled and fell to her feet, her sword clattering loudly at her side. Before her, the grizzled man lay on his back, spread-eagle with his lips parted slightly and his wide, frightened eyes gazing at the sky. Beneath him, blood was starting to pool.

In a daze, Astrid crawled a bit closer, looking the man's body over. The he flesh over his heart was torn and ragged, like ground meat. When she tried to scramble away, her hand slipped in a patch of blood and she fell forward, her head landing on his chest.

Astrid screamed and scrambled backwards, tripping over her hands and crashing back onto the ground, her head slamming into a crate. Stars dancing across her vision, she thought about what she had smelled being so close to the man. Blood, sweat, and gunpowder… the strong scent of gunpowder. Too strong to have been caused by him firing his own gun. On top of that, the gun that had been fired sounded like it had far more power than the old man's pistol had had. That led her to one conclusion…

'He was shot… by someone else's gun.' She sat up, rubbing her head and looking at the gaping wound on his chest. 'Looks a bit like something a shotgun would do. …But… Sephiroth doesn't use a shotgun…' Then, she remembered something and a vision flashed before her eyes.

Marcus… the last time she had seen him in a dream, he 'killed' her with a gun. As she thought about it, the unusual look of the gun came back to her. It had been held like a handgun and looked a bit like a revolver, but the muzzle and the barrel were too large for regular bullets, and there hadn't been moon clip. Instead, it had an area where it broke, like a shotgun. The whole thing had been made of some kind of heavy-looking black metal, while the trigger and grip had been silver.

She then remembered the sound of the gun being shot at her, the loud bang and then the burn as the shot from the shell scattered and bore into her chest. The sound had been the same as the one that followed the old man's scream. It was then Astrid made the horrible connection.

'Marcus… shot and… and _killed_ this man…'

Sirens began to go off around Astrid, but she didn't hear them. In the glowing red lights, she stood and ripped off the hat of her uniform, her hair tumbling down and stopping at her mid-back, dark brown tresses blackened by the night. Picking up her sword, Astrid turned abruptly and ran back to the main part of the deck, jumping down the hole and onto the stairs that led to the cargo room.

She flew down the stairs and burst through the doors, passing the crowd of her company that had already gathered in the engine room. Ignoring the shocked Sephiroth that was staring at her, Astrid dove at her brother and raised her sword, the blade clashing against his gun, which he had raised just in time to stave off her killing blow.

"Astrid." Marcus hissed through gritted teeth, a greasy strand of grey-blonde hair falling into his face as she pushed forward and pushed him back.

"You're going too far, Marcus!" She shouted, boring down on him with all of her anger, "You willingly killed tonight! You're crossing the point of no return!"

He suddenly smirked, "Ha." Then, with what appeared to be minimal effort, he pushed his gun forward and threw her back, her sword sliding across the barrel of his gun noisily and her body crashing heavily into the ground. She looked up just as he stepped over her and pointed the gun at her. He was still smirking, "You came here to preach to me about killing? Well, I do seem to recall that you killed several back in Midgar, or have you forgotten?"

"There is a difference," She growled, pushing his gun aside and standing, "Between killing and slaughter, and though they are mainly philosophical, there are several factual, tangible differences. Your actions and mine are completely different in those respects."

"Don't prate to me about human philosophy!" Marcus screamed, waving his gun, "It's all biased and untrustworthy! I'm above all of that, now!"

"Then kill me."

Everyone in the room was astonished to some level by her demand. When Marcus looked at her questioningly, Astrid smiled and spread her arms.

"If you really feel that way, and you feel that you are no longer prejudiced about who you kill, then kill me now. Prove to me, your master, yourself, and everyone else in this room that you are no longer human."

Marcus held up his gun and pointed it at her head, his finger tense on the trigger. He scowled when Astrid smiled and closed her eyes, his finger tensing on the trigger even more.

"Marcus." He turned to his master, who nodded to him. "Shoot her, Marcus, and remove this obstacle from our path. All she is is the remnants of a life you have wisely forsaken; a life of lies and corruption. Shoot her and purge yourself."

The boy nodded and turned back to his sister, his jaw set. He pulled the trigger further, but stopped when he heard the hammer in the gun shift. He looked passed the gun and stared at his sister, who was waiting with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. For a moment, he remembered their life back home…

"Marcus, shoot!"

Body jerking to life at Sephiroth's command, Marcus blinked as his finger convulsed and pulled the trigger, the barrel jerking up as the shot flew from the muzzle and struck Astrid. She screamed and jerked backwards, body arcing gracefully in the air before she slammed into the ground, hair spread around her.

Marcus stared at her body listlessly as his master laughed, then pulled from his pocket a blue arm. Sephiroth dropped the arm, then grabbed the boy's shoulder and pulled out his teleportation materia, the both of them disappearing in a white haze.

Astrid stared at the metal ceiling above her blankly as the haze faded and the sound of roaring echoed through the room. She was aware of the party fighting JenovaBIRTH for a few moments, then saw a red flash fly over her and hold its position, standing over her protectively.

'Red…' She would have smiled, but was too weak. 'Sorry… looks like I won't… be able to tell you the truth… Ha, this is sad. I never even got to meet Cait Sith… or Cid… or Vincent…' Her vision began to blur and fade, as did the noise around her. 'Marcus… I hope… you break away from… the control of Sephiroth… and… Jenova…' She closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

From above, Marcus and Sephiroth monitored the battle through telekinesis, Sephiroth guiding Marcus's still developing powers. When Marcus felt Astrid's life flicker and fade, he let out a heavy sigh of relief. He was purged.

* * *

"Well done." Sephiroth commented, feeling his student's relief. He studied Marcus's face for a moment, then said, "But you aren't done with her, yet."

Marcus looked at his master in shock. What more did Sephiroth want him to do to her? Desecrate her grave? "Master?"

Sephiroth shook his head and frowned, "She's not dead, yet."

"But…but…" Marcus stuttered, "But I hit her dead on!"

The man shook his head, "When I yelled at you, your hand jerked and changed the trajectory of the shot." Seeing his student student's still incredulous look, Sephiroth elaborated further, "Your shot went through her shoulder." He shook his head and sighed, "I'll take blame for that, but I am proud of you. I had my doubts about you doing it." Marcus was silent.

"So," The boy began after a moment, "She's not… dead?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "No."

The man went on to say something else, but Marcus wasn't listening. Somewhere inside of him, a small part of him felt…


	17. Recovery in Costa del Sol

Okay, so there is a possibility that I may deviate from the story line a few times throughout this... but I swear everything will turn out as it should.

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Recovery in Costa del Sol)

Her dreams were grey and listless; moving shapes with no dimension or meaning. Nothing made sense, and even though she was capable of coherent thought she was unable to change things. …Not that she was trying. She was too busy trying to figure out where she was.

After an indefinable amount of time, things suddenly changed from grey to an odd shade of bright green, and she actually began to feel warm. It didn't take her long to figure that she was in the Lifestream. All around her, voices young and old began whispering. What they said didn't make sense, but it soothed and relaxed her.

"_Don't worry_."

She tried to move, but had no body. She began to panic.

"_It's alright, Astrid. I'll help guide you back_."

That voice… sounded familiar. Shiva?

"_Yes. You're lucky you were equipped with my materia_._ If you hadn't been, I might not have been able to find you_."

She was… confused.

"_Your friends are trying to heal your still living body, but you had already departed to join the Lifestream_._ I'm here to guide you back_._ Now, follow me and I'll take you back_."

She felt Shiva tug at her… essence, and she gave in. As the summon led her back, the green around her faded and the shapeless grey returned, but that, too, faded and was replaced with color and dimension, and suddenly she was looking down at her own pale, sleeping face. Then, she was crashing back into her body, shrouded in pain.

"Astrid?! Astrid!"

Astrid jerked into a sitting position and jerked to her right, falling off the edge of the bed and crashing into the floor. She felt her body continue to convulse and felt pain far beyond what she had experienced even back at Shin-Ra. She could hardly feel the arms encircling her, trying to keep her still.

"It's alright, Astrid." Aerith gasped into her right ear, strain clear in her voice, "You're going to be fine."

Astrid wanted to answer, but her body only convulsed again, more violently than before.

Suddenly, another pair of arms appeared around her and she heard Tifa shouting, "Barret! Go get Cloud!"

A heavy set of footsteps exited the room quickly, pounding and echoing until they faded away. She seized again sharply, her back arching painfully and a strangled gasp escaping her lips. 'Oh… Gaia…'

Aerith and Tifa did their best to hold her down, and when the door burst open and more feet ran in, she was suddenly pinned by two more bodies, one with spiky blonde hair and the other with short black hair.

"Aerith, get out a 'Lightning' materia!" Cloud was then waving the materia in front of Astrid's eyes, lighting it up as bright as it could go without actually using a 'Bolt' spell.

Astrid stared at the bright light, transfixed. When the materia got closer and tapped her on the forehead, she felt a warm shock go through her and her body began to relax, a long sigh escaping her lips.

The party fell away from her as she went limp, watching her cautiously and waiting to jump back on her if need be. She stared at the ceiling blankly, taking in deep and even breaths and exhaling slowly.

After a moment and without addressing anyone in particular, she asked, "Where are we?"

"Costa del Sol." Cloud answered immediately, crossing his arms, "We got here two days ago, but you were still unconscious. Your injury wasn't too bad, but it bled worse than we thought it would and our materia couldn't heal a wound that deep at their level, so we had to wait." He paused, watching her as she stood and sat on the edge of the bed. He then asked, a hard edge in his tone, "Why did you throw yourself in front of him like that? You could have died."

"He wouldn't have killed me." Astrid cut in abruptly, her voice decisive. She paused, then looked up at Cloud, "I know him and what he is capable of. Marcus may be a lot of things right now, but he would not be able to kill a member of his own family." She turned away and sighed, "He doesn't have it in him."

"But he will, eventually, I take it?" Cloud asked sardonically, frowning.

She brushed off his scorn and shrugged, "I suppose that anything's possible. Besides," She glared up at him, "You said I could take care of my brother however I wanted. Why the sudden change in attitude?"

He glared at her and snapped, "I didn't think that your methods would involve you getting yourself shot!"

At this, her right hand shot up to her left shoulder, gripping it. Even through the sweater she was wearing, she could feel the bandages… "I'm fine. It's nothing I won't get over. I probably just… reacted badly to the shock."

Aerith cut in, frowning, "While we were trying to heal you, your heart stopped five times, Astrid…" The room fell quiet.

"Well, at any rate," Red XIII stepped forward, looking at Astrid's shoulder, "She should be well enough to travel. Maybe even within the next day or so."

"This evening." Astrid said, looking out the window. The shadows made it look to be a bit before noon, "We'll take off this evening. A bit more rest and I should be fine. Can't keep us here too long, after all." With that, she fell over her side and lay down on the bed, closing her eyes.

No one did anything for a few moments, then they began to shuffle around the room, some laying down on beds and others walking out the door. After an hour of lying still, Astrid sat up and slipped out of bed, looking around. Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII had stayed behind to take a nap and the bathroom door was shut. There was shuffling inside, so Barret was probably in there admiring himself in his sailor suit. That left Cloud and Yuffie, the later of which was probably off making a profit of selling materia. As for Cloud… who knew where he might be.

Astrid tiptoed over to the vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. For someone who had recently been in a near-fatal accident, she didn't look too bad. She was a still pale and her hair was a bit stringy, but beyond that she was fine. She was out of her Senior Grunt uniform and in a pair of jeans and a loose white sweater, but there were some splotches of dried blood on the left shoulder. 'Well, there's another sweater lost. I'll have to buy some more…'

After finding her things and slipping on a clean, grey sweater, Astrid slipped on her sword and Vincent's gun, grabbing a bag of gil she had been saving. 'Getting into hotter territory now… I'm going to need some shirts.' While she was thinking this, she jammed her PHS into her pocket.

She picked up her boots in one hand and tiptoed over to the door, grabbing the knob with her free hand and turning it gently, pulling slowly and slipping out as soon as the crack was big enough. In the lobby of the inn, she sat down in a chair and pulled her boots on, tugging and tying the laces tightly. Making sure that none of her party members had seen her, she then walked out the front door and into the warm Costa sun.

Costa del Sol was definitely one of the more pleasant places they had been to by far. Sure, someone as pale as Astrid was certain to burn within thirty minutes, but it was pleasantly temperate and there wasn't a lot of mako in the air like there had been on the last continent. One could breathe in deeply and not have to cough up mako residue.

The people were nice, too. Every five steps Astrid had to turn her head to smile or wave back to someone or a group of people who called out a friendly greeting to her. In the shops, the main things that were sold were bathing suits and beach toys, and Astrid actually had to ask the manager to pull out boxes of regular clothes to even begin to find anything.

Throwing aside the twentieth loose silk top she pulled out, Astrid sighed and turned to the assistant who had been assigned to her, "Don't you have anything… more practical than this? I'm kinda traveling all over Gaia right now, and I'm going to need thicker shirts than this."

The assistant, a girl with long brown hair and blue eyes, shrugged and smiled, "What kind of material are you looking for your shirts to be made of?"

"Cotton." Astrid turned to the shirts and frowned, "Maybe with a polyester or spandex blend, but definitely cotton."

"I'll check our inventory." The smiling assistant bowed and walked away.

"Thank you." Astrid called after her, then turned back to the boxes in front of her and continued to dig through them. 'Let's see… I have eight pairs of pants, seven sweaters minus the two I lost recently makes five, covered on underwear and socks, one pair of boots, I'm down an overcoat… lost it back in Junon… I should be fine if I get two new sweaters, four shirts, and maybe a new coat.'

The assistant returned a moment later with a large box, which she dropped heavily and said, panting, "These were mistakenly shipped to us about a year ago. They were on their way to Rocket Town, but the orders got mixed up, and Rocket Town has fairly wet weather, so…"

"Thanks." Astrid smiled, turning and opening the box.

Most of the things inside were clearly made for colder, wetter weather than what Costa del Sol faced. Everything inside had a higher blend of polyester than anything Astrid had seen in Midgar, Kalm, and Junon, and most if it was made thicker than the Midgar sweaters she had. They were almost too thick. She did manage to find two nice sweaters, one navy blue and one black, and she found five shirts with long sleeves, and, seeing as the box definitely wasn't short on jackets, she found a nice green, polyester jacket that went down to her knees, zipped, buttoned at the neck, and had a drawstring hood that would protect her from the rain, sun, and would be fine to wear in fair weather.

At the cash register, the manager came up and gave her a fifty percent off discount. "Not like we can really sell that stuff often." He said with a shrug.

Back out in the street, Astrid sighed contentedly and walked down to the beach, deciding to get a few hours of lazing in before she had to set out on the journey again. Bag crinkling as she dropped it in the sand, she flopped down onto a chair and stretched out, shaded by an umbrella. She was just about to doze off when a series of high-pitched giggling woke her.

Sitting up, Astrid glanced down the line of umbrellas and chairs to see a group of girls nearby who seemed to be crowded around one person with black hair… long black hair… greasy long black hair… greasy long black hair growing out of a huge forehead… 'Crap. I forgot about this part.'

When the girls giggled again, Astrid stood and grabbed her things, hoping to slip passed the man without him noticing. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out so well.

"Ah, well if it isn't experiment 2208, the Ailment Experiment." She froze and he laughed, "Why don't you come over? I haven't seen you in a while, and you're far past your checkup date."

Astrid cringed, then drooped and turned, trudging back to the scientist. 'Wait, why am I listening to him? He's not in control of me anymore. I haven't been the property of Shin-Ra for almost two months, now.' She paused and looked at him, lowing her eyes when she saw his leering face, 'Then again, he no longer works for Shin-Ra, either. And, on top of that, if there is anything wrong with me, only he'd be able to tell…'

"Have a seat." Hojo commanded coolly, brushing the girls off and shooing them away. When she sat down in front of him, he took out a small flashlight and clicked it on, prying her eyelid open and waving the beam over her eye. "Hmm…" He muttered after a moment, holding the light right in her eye, "You've definitely got some color in your skin… cheeks are a bit fuller… so you've been out in the sun and your eating healthy."

Astrid said nothing, not squirming until he let her head go and put the light away.

He scrutinized her face, frowning and placing one hand on her forehead and the other over the artery in her neck, "Temperature appears to be normal… pulse is steady… but you look pale under your light tan." Hojo paused, his frown deepening, "Have you been injured recently?"

Astrid paused before nodding, "Yes. I was shot—"

"Where?" Hojo pressed.

"My left shoulder… Hey!" She cried when he grabbed her and pulled the collar of her sweater down, looking at the bandages.

"How long ago?" Hojo asked, peeling the bandages back slightly.

Astrid winced, "About three days, and I've been unconscious for two of them. When I woke up, I went into a seizure… I was told the wound wasn't bad, but it bled a lot."

"That was probably just your body attempting to wash away any impurities the wound may have let in and the seizure was probably a byproduct of shock." Letting go of the bandage, Hojo sat back and rubbed his hands, "I don't think it will get infected, but you should make sure to change the bandages at least twice a day and let the wound breathe about two hours a day in three days time."

Astrid listened to this quietly, then frowned when he sat back, "…What are you getting at?"

Hojo looked at her with a raised brow, "Whatever do you mean?"

She looked down, hands fiddling with the hem of her sweater, "You're instructing me on how to care for my wound, you're concerned for my health, you know my group is here and you haven't informed Shin-Ra, and, from what I've heard, you were fired…"

"Fired." Hojo scoffed, turning to the sea and closing his eyes, "I quit Shin-Ra. Not that it's any of your business, but since Rufus took over, things have changed in how the Science Department is run. I didn't like where it was going, so I left. I'm not particularly inclined in helping Shin-Ra, thus I won't be telling them you've been here.

"And, as for my concern about your health," He paused and looked at her critically, "You're still my test subject and your experiment is still in the process of being analyzed. I'm interested in seeing how you fair in the real world, where diseases and bacteria roam unchecked. Now, I have some more things I want to cover with you." He sat up and looked at her, "Have you gotten ill since you left the Shin-Ra building?"

"No." Astrid shook her head.

Hojo nodded, "Other than the typical battle injuries, have you sustained any other major wounds?"

She thought about it before answering, "Back in Kalm, we discovered that I had a large bruise on my back that basically went the bottom of my neck down to my lower back."

The scientist frowned, "How did you manage that?"

'That's none of his business.' A part of her cut in. "Escaping the Shin-Ra building." She answered.

He nodded again, "Anything else?"

She shook her head, "No, not really."

"Fine." He sighed and thought for a moment, "Try to avoid areas of highly concentrated and uncontrolled mako, especially the reactors in Fort Condor, Gongaga and Nibelheim. If it is unavoidable, don't try to go slow to let your body adapt; get through as fast as possible. Using materia is fine, but not in excess. Be careful if you get injuries, and keep in mind the fact that you have been introduced to dangerous amounts of mako several times, so your anatomy might react to certain things differently than it did before.

"If you haven't noticed, your injuries should heal faster than they did before the mako experiments, but, in retrospect, you'll be far more susceptible to mako poisoning if the mako is unrestrained." He stopped and quirked a brow skeptically, "Can you remember all of that?"

Astrid scowled, "Don't be ridiculous, Hojo."

"Good." He nodded, unperturbed, turning and lying back in his chair, "I know that you're inclined to be a bit… rash about things, 2208, but please, try to take care of yourself. I've invested quite a bit of time and energy into you, and I'd hate to see you screw it up by getting yourself killed. Good day."

Jumping to her feet, Astrid grabbed her bag and stormed away, ignoring the floozies as they swarmed back to the man. 'Jackass…'

Back at the inn, Astrid stormed into the room and slammed the door behind herself, startling her group. They watched her as she threw her things around and packed angrily. When she was done, she looked at them with blazing eyes, "Are we going soon? I'd really like to get out of here."

"We're checking out in an hour." Cloud said after a moment, watching her closely.

Red XIII watched her as she threw herself on her bed and groaned, then walked over to her and jumped up, sitting beside her. He sniffed her head quickly, then jerked back and stared at her with wide eyes, "You've just seen Hojo!"

"Bastard." She snapped, rolling onto her stomach, "Still treating me like I'm his freaking experiment… Acting like I'm a helpless five-year-old…"

"What did he say?" Aerith asked quietly, sitting beside Red and looking at the teen worriedly.

"Bah!" Astrid waved her hand, growling, "He just gave me a checkup and told me to take better care of myself, and all because he's studying me as a real-world experiment, now, and he's waiting for me to contract some deadly disease. Stupid jerk." She muttered the last two words, crossing her arms and glaring at the wall. She heard Aerith sigh and, after waiting for everyone to busy themselves with packing their things, Astrid sat up and looked over at her friend, finding she and Aerith were the only ones within earshot. "Aerith? Are you okay?"

Aerith, who was rubbing her temples, looked up distractedly and murmured, "Hmm? Ah," She sighed and shook her head, lowering her hands, "I'm fine."

"That was a poor attempt at a lie, Aerith." Astrid muttered, falling silent as Yuffie waltzed by. When the girl was gone, she addressed her friend again, "You can talk to me, you know. I'm willing to listen."

The woman sighed, "It's just…" She stopped when Tifa walked up behind her, dropping a bag on the other bed and shifting though the things inside. Aerith shook her head, "Can we talk about this… some other…"

"Of course." Astrid nodded.

At that moment, Cloud was surveying the room to see how packing was going. Seeing things were mostly done, he stepped up and said, "We're ahead of schedule, so is everyone alright with leaving early?" At the resounding affirmative from everyone in the group, Cloud grabbed his things and nodded, "Alright. I'll go check us out, then."


	18. North Corel

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(North Corel)

The road to Corel was long and tiring, and Astrid was starting to understand what Hojo was talking about when he told to avoid mako reactors. As they drew closer and closer to the Corel reactor, Astrid could feel the air growing heavier and heavier, making it hard to breathe. She hadn't noticed it while she was in Midgar, but now that she was getting closer to mako she was beginning to realize something; open mako vents were just as bad as the pollution back on Earth.

It made her body feel heavy and dull, and it left a terrible taste in her mouth. There was no smell to compare it to, but the air was growing thick with the distinct smell of mako. As they climbed the final stretch before the reactor, the party ran into a hiker who had stopped alongside the road.

"Hey!" He hailed, waving to them. When they walked over, he went right down to business, "You guys had better be careful if you're going to Corel. There was a man in a black cloak and a kid who just walked passed not too long ago, and both of them looked pretty dangerous."

Astrid frowned and stood back, waiting as Cloud talked to the hiker. 'Sephiroth and Marcus are just now getting here? …What took them so long? They had a two-day head start on us.'

"Astrid." She blinked and looked up, Tifa nodding to her and Aerith beckoning her, "Let's go. We're going to get passed the reactor as quickly as we can."

She nodded and started following them at a power walk. When they had noticed her slowing as they got closer to the reactor, Astrid had no choice but to tell the party that she was susceptible to mako poisoning. She would have preferred they didn't know, but when even Cloud began asking her what was wrong, she had had no choice.

At the peak of the trail, they stepped onto a wooden platform that led to a stairway down to the reactor. The party paused and looked back at Astrid, Barret asking, "You gonna to be okay?"

Astrid nodded, coughing slightly, "I'll be fine, as long as we get passed this quickly." As much as she would play it off as being 'okay', Astrid refused to tell them the side effects she felt from being this close to mako.

The air was almost constricted in her lungs, and it took all of her willpower to not gasp each breath she took. Also, the smell of the mako was so strong it was giving her a stabbing headache, making the 'no gasping' problem even harder. One thing she couldn't hide, though, was her sluggish movements and dizzy spells. It was because these were so obvious that Cloud had banned her from fighting until they left Corel.

The mako in the air grew stronger and stronger yet as they walked passed the reactor, and Astrid thought about what Hojo had told her. 'He warned me to stay away from reactors where the mako is uncontrolled, but the Corel reactor is controlled… If controlled mako makes me feel this terrible, then one of those other areas will kill me…'

When they were standing right in front of the reactor, Astrid stumbled and fell against the railing running alongside the pathway, finally gasping air in and out of her lungs. Her knees buckled and she fell forward, the stabbing in her head peaking so it felt like someone had shoved a hot poker in her eye and was slowly twisting it in circles. Her body went numb and her vision blacked out, and for a moment all she was aware of was pain.

Then, suddenly, the pain began to recede. First her hearing returned, and she heard someone gasping for air and heard frantic footfalls. When her feeling returned, she realized that the one gasping for air was her. Her vision came back as did her taste, and there was the sight of sky framed on two parallel sides by rocky cliffs walls and Barret's face in the corner of her vision, as was there the taste of blood in her mouth and she could feel her tongue throbbing.

Her hearing was fuzzy for a bit and she couldn't make out what the others were saying, so she spent her time rolling her tongue around and assessing the damage it had taken; two holes on each side and a slice across the tip, all from where she had clamped down, more than likely when she had fallen.

When things were finally clear enough for her to understand what everyone was saying and she could move each toe individually, she looked up and said to Barret, "Can I get down now?"

He looked down at her, then grunted and nodded, kneeling and setting her on her feet cautiously. Keeping a hand behind her back as she regained her balance, he asked, "You awright?"

She teetered for a moment, then turned to Barret and nodded, smiling, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks."

"No problem." He stood and looked around, grumbling, "What's takin' spiky?"

Astrid looked around, blinking in surprise. They were standing on a railroad track that ended at the edge of a river. Above them was a bridge with another track that led across the water and wound along the mountain, but ended where a rockslide had smashed into the tracks and blocked the way. Across from their tracks, on the other side of the river, was a drawbridge that, when deployed, would let them cross to the other side and continue on the lower tracks, which weren't destroyed.

She frowned, "What are we wai—" She was cut off when the drawbridge jerked to life and began to drop, and around her the party members began to cheer.

"Yeah, Cloud!" Aerith cheered, jumping up and down.

"Took ya long enough, spiky!" Barret shouted, pumping the air with his fist.

"Yay! We can cross now!" Yuffie shouted, already running across the tracks.

Astrid watched confusedly, asking in a small voice, "What's going on?"

Aerith walked over to Astrid, smiling kindly, "Are you alright? You look a bit lost."

The teen looked up at her friend, eyes wide, "I feel lost."

"It's alright." Aerith said, wrapping her arm around Astrid's and leading her across the bridge, "You were out for a bit. There were two tracks, see," She pointed to the two, "The upper one didn't lead anywhere, but it had the control box. The lower one leads to Corel, but the bridge was up. So, Cloud, Tifa, and Red took the upper one to drop the bridge so we could cross."

Astrid sighed, shaking her head, "How long was I out?"

"About an hour." Aerith said, smiling nervously, "You had us worried, you know. I mean, I know that Hojo said you would react badly, but I didn't think it would be that bad."

"Ugh." Astrid groaned, raising her free hand to her head, "I'll never go near another reactor again!"

Aerith giggled, then sighed and looked ahead, a 'zoned out' glaze covering her eyes.

After staring at her for a moment, Astrid coughed lightly and frowned when Aerith shook her head and looked down at her, "Aerith, what's wrong?"

The woman blinked, then sighed and looked ahead, "Hojo… told me something… at Costa del Sol."

Already knowing what it was and knowing her friend would need support, Astrid nudged her in the side and smiled, "Hey, I've said it once and I'll say it again; I'm willing to listen to whatever you have to say. Talk to me, Aerith. It's what friends are for."

"Thank you, Astrid." Aerith said smiling, though it was strained. She then looked away, sighing again, "Hojo told me that… I'm the last Centra."

"Centra?" Astrid asked, frowning and faking astonishment, "Isn't 'Centra' the proper term for the Ancients?"

Aerith nodded, "It is."

"Oh." Astrid blinked, looking ahead, "…Wow."

"Yeah… wow." Aerith sighed, shaking her head, "It's all so…"

"If I may," Astrid began slowly, trying to get the wording right, "Why is this so… heavy for you?"

Aerith sighed in anger, frowning, "Astrid, I'm the last Centra. For me it's like… being the last human. What I have will die with me and it will never come back, no matter what I do. The Centra were said to have a close relationship with the Planet, and it's true." She sighed and leaned her head back, closing her eyes, "If I listen hard enough, sometimes I can hear the whispers of the planet and the Lifestream. It never makes sense, but…" She lowered her head and said in a small voice, "I can tell the Planet is crying. And I'm the only one who can hear it. It… scares me."

Astrid didn't answer, instead leaning against Aerith and freeing her arm from the Ancient's to wrap it around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Aerith was shocked, but then quickly returned it with double the emotion. Astrid frowned.

'The dialogue of the game didn't give Aerith's position the same gravity that Aerith feels.' Astrid shook her head as Aerith pulled away, a stab of pity for the woman hitting her heart, 'I wonder… how this will turn out.'

Of she and her brother, Marcus was the only one who had seen how the game turned out. He had watched a friend play it, then asked his parents to buy it for him. Astrid had almost no idea what would happen beyond Nibelheim. And frankly, she wasn't too keen on finding out. …But it wasn't as if she had much of a choice, right?

When they reached the bridge, they waited for Cloud, Tifa and Red to catch up upon the request of Barret, who was looking increasingly nervous as they got closer to Corel.

'Can't blame him.' Astrid frowned as she watched the gunman pace back and forth nervously, 'I wouldn't want to return to a town that hated me, either.'

After the others had caught up and they started to head across the bridge, Barret hung behind and began to cross the bridge last.

Astrid shook her head and faced forward. 'Not going to help, Barret. You'll get there, sooner or later.'

And then they were in Corel. As they walked through the ramshackle town, people began to walk out of their tents and broken-down houses to gap at the travelers. Some of them, though, stopped gapping when they recognized who was trudging along in the back.

"Hey, Barret!" Someone from the back shouted, "Take this, traitor!" Then a rock flew through the air and smacked Barret in his broad chest.

The gunman flinched slightly, but took it silently.

Some cheered and others began to throw insults at the man, but everyone screamed and fell silent when a loud bang rang though the air and crashed along the sides of the mountains, echoing sonorously.

"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!" Astrid bellowed, standing on top of a rock and holding Vincent's gun high in the air, smoke rising out of the barrel in a thin wisp. She looked around and, once she was sure she had everyone's eyes on her, she went on. "I won't pretend to know what bad blood sits between all of you and Barret, but as long as he's traveling with us, I'll ask that you all back the hell off and leave him alone!"

"Astrid!"

She looked down at Barret, who had grabbed onto her arm and was looking up at her with pleading eyes.

Though clenched teeth, he hissed, "Please, don't."

Jumping down from the rock, Astrid shoved the barrel of the gun into the man's chest, "Are you going to face your past, then?"

He looked around, then, sighing, he walked away from her and was confronted by two men, both of whom seemed to know him and neither of whom seemed thrilled to see him.

The rest of the party hung back and stayed mostly silent, waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen.

Barret walked back a moment later, shoulders slumped and face drawn. "Awright, let's go."

"Where to?" Astrid asked, shoving the gun back into its holster.

The man turned and nodded in the direction of a thin path bearing a faded sign, "To Gold Saucer. There's some people… I gotta see there… maybe." He paused, then shrugged, "'Sides, it's the only way to get to the other part of the continent."

"Right, then." Cloud nodded, stepping forward, "Let's go."

The path led them to a tram, and onboard the tram they took their seats and departed for the Gold Saucer, where Astrid remembered they were going to meet one of her favorite characters… even if he was somewhat of a backstabber.


	19. The Gold Saucer

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The Gold Saucer)

As they approached the theme park and the fireworks went off, Astrid and Yuffie ran to the window and pressed their faces to the glass, jumping up and down and cheering.

"Gold-en Sauce-er! Gold-en Sauce-er!! Gold-en Sauce-er!!"

"What're you gonna do, Astrid?!" Yuffie squealed, a huge smile on her face.

"I'm gonna go to the arcade! What're you gonna do, Yuffie?!" Astrid squealed back.

Yuffie gasped and laughed, "The same thing!"

Astrid smiled and grabbed Yuffie's hands, "Let's go together!"

"Okay!"

As the girls continued to babble on, the rest of the group sat huddled together at the opposite end of the tram staring at the girls in fear, their eyes focused especially on Astrid. What had happened to her?!

Partway through smiling and nodding to Yuffie's gibbered nonsense, a thought suddenly struck Astrid and stopped her cold. 'I'm having a blonde moment with Yuffie.' This was bad, considering one, they both had darker hair, and two, the moment was with Yuffie.

Astrid must have suddenly looked horrified, because Yuffie stopped talking and looked at Astrid questioningly. "Is something wrong?"

Astrid blinked, then shook her head and put on a false smile, "Nope. Nothing at all."

Yuffie smiled, then continued to prattle on.

When they finally arrived at the entrance gate and Cloud paid for their entrance, they stood in the first dome and looked around, staring at the different tunnels. Astrid was zoning out as they waited for Cloud to pick who he wanted to search with him when Yuffie suddenly appeared at her side.

The ninja smiled cheekily, "You ready to go?"

Astrid blinked and looked around. They were the only ones left. She then turned to the girl and smiled, holding out her arm, "Let's."

Arm in arm, the two teens ran over to the arcade tunnel and jumped, screaming with glee as the pressurized tunnel shot them through a series of tubes, twists, and slides, all lit with colorful flashing lights and neon ribbons. Then, they were shooting straight up and shot out of the tube, both of them tumbling onto the softly padded exit ground in a heap and laughing.

They both stood and looked at each other, whereupon they burst out laughing again.

"Come on!" Yuffie waved, running towards the entrance to the arcade, "It's this way!"

Astrid was about to run after her when she noticed a rather large moogle with a very cute black cat on its back. She turned to her friend and smiled, waving her off, "You go on. There's something I need to do."

Yuffie blinked, then shrugged, "Whatever you say." The teen then turned and ran into the next pressurized tube, which jetted her up a short way and sent her running down the path to the arcade.

Sighing, Astrid turned to the moogle-riding cat and walked over to it. The robot jerked to life as she approached, the cat tilting its head quizzically. Astrid bent forward and smiled, "Hello, there. And who might you be, hmm?"

The cat tilted its head in the other direction, then smiled and jumped into the air, shouting in a squeaky voice, "I'm Cait Sith, fortune teller extraordinaire!"

"Is that so?" Astrid smirked, "Tell me, then, would you tell my fortune?"

"Of course, little missy! But, it'll cost ya." The cat answered, grinning.

Astrid's smirk widened and she took out some gil. "But of course." She inserted the money into the slot and waited.

"Hold, please." The cat lowered his head and the moogle began to shudder. The sound of clanking gears was heard, then the moogle's mouth opened and a piece of paper slipped out. The cat snatched up the piece of paper and looked it over, "Hmm… this is an odd fortune… A crescent moon and a staff… the symbols of an oracle." The cat looked at her and grinned, "Though you don't always know what your information means, you know more than you let on."

Grinning, Astrid leaned in closer to the cat's face until the cat was squirming uncomfortably, "How perceptive of you… Reeve."

The cat paused and the moogle jerked. Cait Sith then laughed, though through the mike, it sounded nervous, "I'm no—"

"Don't patronize me, Reeve." Astrid hissed, leaning closer. She then smiled and backed away, "I'm not here to scare or threaten you, Reeve, just warn you. These. Are. Nice. People." She annunciated the last words slowly, poking the cat in the middle of the head at each pause. She then stroked the cat on the head, a sad smile on her face, "Please… don't hurt them."

The moogle let out a low whirr and the cat drooped, the mechanized voice dropping to Reeve's normal voice, "Don't worry, Astrid. I'll avoid it if the situation offers another route. Threatening… shall always be a last resort."

She sighed and stood back, "Thanks, Reeve."

"Astrid," The cat said, its voice returning to the squeaky Cait Sith voice, "I told you! My name is Cait Sith!"

"I'm sorry." Astrid said, laughing, "I must have mistaken you for someone else. Please, forgive me, Cait Sith." She sighed and turned, "Well, I'll be off, now. Yuffie is probably still waiting for me."

"Astrid, wait!" She turned back and the moogle bounced up to her, Cait Sith looking up at her and tilting his head, "You, um… you won't tell them… that I'm…"

She tilted her head, "That you're who? I thought you were just Cait Sith. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Cait Sith tilted his head a little more, then laughed and jumped into the air, "Nope! Nothing at all! I am Cait Sith and only Cait Sith. Well," Cait Sith stepped forward and took Astrid's hand in his paw, shaking it enthusiastically, "It was a pleasure meeting ya, Miss Astrid. I hope ya have a fun time at Gold Saucer."

As it turned out, Astrid didn't have a good time at the Gold Saucer. In the arcade, she lost at every game she tried, even the Moogle Game. At the chocobo races, she was tricked into buying fake tickets and was ejected from the floor, after which she somehow ended up in the middle of a battle at the arena and nearly got herself killed. After that little excursion, she stumbled up to the haunted house/inn and rented a room, crashing as she was falling onto the bed.

When she came too, she heard about Cloud and the others getting thrown down to the sandy dungeon and Cloud making a deal to get freed if he won the chocobo race, and she ran down to the chocobo arena immediately.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" She muttered, pushing past bodies and diving into the travel tunnel, "How could I have slept that long?!"

At the arena, the race was about to start and the chocobos were at their starting points. There was no way for Astrid to go in and help Cloud, so she did the next best thing.

Running up to the nearest teller, she took out all of the bags of gil she had on her and shoved it through the hole, "Put it all on the spiky-headed blonde!"

Her bet ticket in hand, Astrid stood along the railing and cheered, "WOOT!! GO CLOUD!! WIN WIN WIN, I GOT ALL MY MONEY RIDING ON YOU!!"

When Cloud won and Astrid began to cheer loudly, she was noticed by Dio's men and promptly arrested, whereupon she was thrown down into the desert wasteland that the others had faced before her. Only, unlike them, she was alone.

She crashed heavily on the ground, eating a face full of dirt. Groaning, Astrid stood and looked up as Dio's men waved at her cruelly from the elevator.

"Good luck!" One called out, the other joining him in his laughter.

Astrid shook her head as they disappeared and looked around, taking in her current situation. She knew, from the research she had done both back home and in the Shin-Ra HQ library, that the Gold Saucer had been built on the remains of Old Corel after the city had burned to the ground, and this area certainly looked the part.

The buildings that were still standing were old and gutted from the fire, their foundations unsteady and the holes where windows had once been charred with old black soot. The ground was barren and the dirt was packed, so it would be impossible for even the scrawniest weed to grow. What was worse were the people.

Men, who had clearly been down here a long time, looked at her with leers filled with rotted teeth, their eyes ravaging her body, and some with drool running out of their mouths.

She shuddered and began to walk, hoping to head for a less populated part of the prison. 'What now? After Cloud won, the others should have been released, but what of me? Will they know I am here? Will they wait? And, if they do, for how long? How can I get word to them? There's always the chocobo races, but how do I enter now that the man who would have approved my passage is dead, killed by Barret? This isn't good…'

Her thinking was interrupted by a form jumping out of the shadows of a nearby building and lunged at her, grabbing her around the waist. Astrid shrieked and looked down at the form, seeing the face of a delirious man with yellowed eyes, greenish teeth, oily, blackened pale skin and blackened fingernails.

He giggled at her scream and drug his nails down her arm softly, "I can smell your sweet heart."

Astrid screamed again and bashed the man in the nose with her arm, stumbling away and pulling out Vincent's gun with quivering hands. She clicked the safety free and pointed the gun at the man, "S-stay back! I mean it! I… I know how to use this!"

The man tilted his head, giggling again, "Oh, do you know? Well, tell me," He stood tall and swaggered forward, leaning in closely to her face, "Have you ever killed a man?"

Jerking, Astrid swung the gun upward and smacked the man beneath the chin, his teeth crashing together and the skin on his chin splitting clean in two. He shrieked and fell backwards, writhing on the ground and grabbing at his bloody chin. When he heard clicking, he looked up, his eyes widening he saw Astrid standing over him, her gun pointed at his head.

"I dunno, you tell me." She said flatly.

"Hold it!"

She gasped and jumped to the side, rolling in the dirt as a hail of bullets shot through the air where she had been. She looked back up to see a group of men stalking up to her, each holding a crude gun.

The man in front glared down t her, "We're the peacekeepers of this area. Any insurrection of the peace shall lead to the cause to be punished."

"Get outta here, girlie." Another growled, hocking and spitting a wad of phlegm at her feet, "You don't belong here."

Astrid scrambled to her feet and stumbled backwards as the men stalked forward. They backed her to the edge of the town and out of the fence, leaving her standing in the middle of the desert.

She holstered Vincent's gun and turned towards the desert, surveying her new surroundings. She sighed and slumped her shoulders, "Well, this sucks."

* * *

Doing the only thing she really could do, Astrid tightened the belts to her sword scabbard and the holster to Vincent's gun, pulled the straps of her backpack taut, then stepped forward and began her trek into the desert. 'I wonder how big this desert is…'

* * *

Dragging her feet, Astrid tripped over the thousandth rock within the past four hours, slamming into the sand yet again. Sighing, she rolled over and pushed herself into a sitting position, bringing her palm to her face and picking out some of the grit. 'This is getting old.'

When she had both hands as clean as she was going to get them, Astrid dug into her backpack and grabbed a sweater, throwing it over her head and tying the sleeves under her chin. She then readjusted her backpack, stood, brushed her pants off, and started walking again. 'This really sucks.'

* * *

Screaming, Astrid stumbled away from the giant sand worm that was chasing her, casting a few 'Fire2' spells over her shoulder every now and then. When she tripped and fell over another rock, the worm caught up with her.

"_Astrid! Quickly, summon me!_"

Astrid rolled onto her back and thrust her hands forward, focusing on the ice magic part of her brain and shouting, "SHIVA!"

The ice spirit appeared in a flash of blue, white and snow, quickly freezing the worm and dispatching of it with an explosion of ice shards. She then turned to Astrid and bowed, "_Well done._"

The teen stood and nodded, "Thanks."

After Shiva had disappeared, Astrid trudged through half-frozen, slushy worm, picking out a few Potions and a few Ethers.

'Well, at least it wasn't a total loss.'

* * *

The sun was fading in the sky, but it was still so hot. Astrid figured that she had been walking for about seven hours, and though she was further away from the Gold Saucer, the edge of the desert was still too far away to be seen.

When the sun did fall, she fell into the sand and shut down. 'Too… hot.'

Astrid wasn't sure how long she had been walking.

Had it been two days?

Three?

A week?

A month?

Whatever it was, it was too long. The Gold Saucer was a small speck behind her, but before her, the desert stretched on forever.

"I'm not getting out of this… am I?" She asked no one in particular. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her PHS, trying it for what she was sure would be the millionth time.

RingRingRing "_We're sorry. You're phone is currently out of the operable service area. Please get to the nearest covered location and try your call again._"

Astrid glared at the PHS and shoved it back into her pocked, grumbling, "What do you think I've been trying to do?!" She then took out her 'Ice' materia and made a small, frozen ball the size of a marble in her hand, popping it into her mouth when it was fully formed. 'Well, at least I'll be better at casting spells when all of this is over… if it ever gets over.'

* * *

Laying on her back and staring at the blazing blue sky, Astrid wondered if penguins had ever considered vacationing on a beach. Hmm… what would a penguin look like if it had a tan? …Probably nicer than she did with a tan.

'When all of this is over, I am so becoming a recluse and working on getting back to my normal shade of pale.'

_Astrid…_

'Well… would you look at that… I'm finally beginning to hallucinate. …I wonder if I can see my hallucinations.' She sat up and looked around, seeing nothing but desert all around her. 'Dang it…'

_Astrid…_

"Just hearing voices doesn't constitute as hallucinating." Astrid shouted to no one in particular, "I have to actually see things, too! Honestly, what does the Union pay you to do? Taunt me, or drive me insane?"

"Astrid!"

She turned and smiled, "That's more like it!" She stood and faced her hallucination… which was currently just a blur off in the distance. She frowned, "HEY! GET OVER HERE AND MAKE ME CRAZY!"

Suddenly, the mirage disappeared, leaving her all alone.

Tears forming in her eyes, Astrid stomped her feet and screamed, "STUPID MIRAGES!" She sniffled and scuffled her feet, "Leavin' me alone…"

"Astrid."

She whirled when the voice came from right behind her, gapping at who it was.

"Dr. Creon?!"

The man, a tall gentleman with longish grey hair and a lab coat, smiled at her, humor apparent in his blue eyes, "Astrid, my star pupil. How have you been?"

Astrid shrugged, "Eh, been better."

The man laughed and shook his head, "You do know what you're doing right now, correct? You do know that it's physically and realistically impossible for me to be here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Astrid scoffed, crossing her arms and sighing, "I know. I'm hallucinating. Overexposure to the sun is making some neurons in the optical and reasoning areas of my brain act all weird, so I'm acting odd and seeing things."

"Correct." Creon nodded, crossing his arms, "So, what must you do?"

"I dunno." She shrugged, "Snap out of it?"

"Hell if I know." Creon shrugged, suddenly frowning, "I am only a mirage, after all. Like I know neurology?" And with that, the man melted away, leaving behind a puddle of grey goop.

Astrid crinkled her nose, "Eww…" She then turned again, crossing her arms and frowning when she face another person. "And who're you?"

The person, a tall figure with long black hair, a leather outfit, a red bandanna holding his hair back, and a red cloak, shrugged, "Why don't you tell me. Chances are you already know."

She tilted her head and leaned forward, getting a closer look at the figure. Hmm… despite the hair, it was definitely male… and he had claret eyes. "Holy materia!" She screamed, jumping backwards and pointing at the man, "You're Larry the Cable Guy!"

The man, Larry, deadpanned. He then shook his head and sighed, smacking is forehead with his hand, "Yes. That is exactly who I am." Astrid noticed he hand a cool looking gold claw on his right arm.

She nodded at it appreciatively, "Nice."

Larry looked at his arm and blinked, "Indeed." He then turned and started walking. After five steps, he turned back and quirked a brow at her, "Aren't you coming?"

"Sure!" Astrid skipped up alongside him, humming to no particular tune. After a few moments, she glanced over at her companion, "Hey, Larry, where are we going?"

"I am escorting you to a way out of this desert." He answered shortly, keeping his red gaze trained ahead.

"Ohhhh." Astrid said, drawing it out. After another moment, she turned to Larry again, "Hey, Larry, can I have a cool metal claw like yours?"

He looked at her oddly, then shrugged, "If you wish…" He then reached into his cloak and pulled out another metal claw, this one made of silver.

She took it, pouting, "Why do I get the silver one?"

Larry rolled his eyes, "Because it is a spare. I can not afford to buy gold all the time. In addition, it is not silver, it is aluminum, and it is all that you're worth."

"Fine, whatever." She grumbled, shoving the claw onto her arm. She then crossed her arms and pouted, sniffing, "Jerk."

She wasn't sure how long they walked, but some time later, Larry suddenly stopped, crossing his arms and staring off into the distance.

"Uh, Larry?" Astrid tugged at his cloak timidly. When he didn't answer, she tugged harder, "Mr. The Cable Guy?"

Larry blinked and looked down at her, "Hmm?"

"Uh…" She looked around, "What're we waiting for?"

Larry looked back off into the distance and nodded, "They'll be here soon."

Astrid tilted her head, "Who?" She felt a sudden pain in her chest and looked down. There was a leather gloved hand protruding from her chest, covered in blood. She turned around slowly, right into the face of her brother, "Mar-cus?"

He looked at her with wide, frightened eyes, "Astrid… help me." He twisted his hand slowly, digging his fingers into her flesh.

She raised a shaky hand to him, "Mar—"

"Astrid!"

She turned to Larry, who was staring at her with his intense, claret stare, his eyes almost glowing, "You will never be able to help him of you keep coddling him. Let him face what he's earned."

"But…" Her voice shuddered and she looked back at her brother, her eyes wide. "Larry… what's happening to him is my—"

"What he is doing has more to do with him than it does you." Larry growled, glaring at Marcus, "He needs to straighten himself out before you can help him, but he will be unable to do that if you keep assuming all of the blame."

"Astrid," Marcus moaned, pushing his hand further through her chest, "Sister… I need your help… Please." He set his head on her shoulder and whimpered, "I'm scared."

She reached out for him again, but was cut off when Larry barked, "Astrid!" Flinching, Astrid pulled her hand back, forcing herself to look at her brother evenly.

"Marcus, I can only help you once you've helped yourself."

At that, Marcus's eyes widened even further and he exploded into a cloud of dust, which drifted away in the desert wind.

"Good job." Larry nodded to her, then turned back to the horizon, "And here they are."

Astrid looked up, blinking in shock when a long, black hummer-limo pulled up beside her, the doors opening and her friends jumping out. They ran at her and seemed to be saying things to her, but Astrid smiled and held up her hands to silence them.

"Ah, my friends. It is so good to see you. Now, before we start talking about what's happened over the past few days, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Larry the Cable Guy." She gestured to Larry, who remained silent.

* * *

The party looked at her in shock as Astrid, disheveled, burnt, and windblown, started gesturing and talking to some… invisible person named 'Larry the Cable Guy'.

Tifa nodded and smiled when Astrid pointed to her, then leaned over to Cloud and whispered, "Is she delirious?"

Cloud nodded slowly, looking genuinely shocked when Astrid held up her arm and started talking about her 'aluminum claw', which was really just a cactus she had shoved onto her arm. Cloud shook his head, "We gotta get her outta here and get her some medical attention."

When Astrid had waved goodbye to 'Larry', they led her to the car Dio had given them (Astrid kept couldn't decide whether she wanted to call it a 'himo' or a 'lummer') and pushed her into the back seat, placing her between Aerith and Tifa, who worked on at least getting her re-hydrated.

When Astrid started going on about penguins and beach vacations, Barret shook his head, "We'd better get to Gongaga soon. I'm not sure how much I can take of this."

* * *

All in all, Astrid wondered what jalapeño and Blorba jell-o would taste like.


	20. Remission in Gongaga

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Remission in Gongaga)

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes!" Astrid sang for what had to be the thousandth verse.

"Astrid!" Barret shouted, turning in the front seat to glare at her, "We get it."

"Okay!" She smiled brightly, then leaned back and started singing, again, "There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o. B-I-N-G-O! B-I-N—"

"Astrid!" Yuffie moaned, covering her head with her hands, "Please, stop!"

Astrid frowned and slumped forward, "Okay." She looked at her feet sadly, then giggled, "Hehe, my feet feel like corn."

Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, Red XII, and Cait Sith all gave her an exasperated look, Tifa shaking her head and looking at Cloud, "Are we going to be there soon? I think she's getting worse."

Cloud grunted in agreement, then turned the car and turned it off, "We're here." He opened his door and stepped out.

The rest of the party trailed after him, Aerith and Tifa helping Astrid stand (which made her sad, because she wanted to play with the coy fish in the grass). They stood at the edge of the forest, car unable to take the narrow path Cloud had found.

"This is the shortest route." Cloud explained, leading them in, "Let's get her there quickly, so someone can look her over.

As they walked along, Astrid occupied herself with counting the number of jellyfish bombs she heard go off out loud, going into a detailed explanation to the group about how you could identify a jellyfish bomb by the sound of its explosion, which sounded like a cow mooing.

When they finally arrived at the village, they quickly asked for directions to the town doctor and took her there fast, trying to save the people from her singing a terrible rendition of "Boogie Wonderland".

The doctor stared at them with wide eyes as they walked in, immediately running over to Astrid and peeling her eyelid back to get a look at her pupils. He shook his head and looked at the group. "What happened to her?"

Cloud sighed as Tifa and Aerith led her to a bed, watching them as they lay her down on it, "She's got heatstroke or something, and we think she's been out in a desert for about five days."

The doctor shook his head, muttering, "In the name of the Lifestream…" He then took out a box and walked over to Astrid, doing some simple checkups.

Astrid sat up and watched him, frowning after a moment, "Dr. Creon? What're you doing playing the part of a physician?" She yanked her hand out of his when he began to take her pulse, whispering angrily, "You're a neurologist, doctor, not an actual… medical surgeon. The university would have you sacked if they saw you doing this."

The doctor nodded and stood, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. You're right and I'll stick to brain surgeries from now on. Now, why don't you get some rest?"

Astrid thought about this, "Hmm…" She then smiled widely, "You betcha, Dr. Creon!" She then abruptly fell back on the bed and went to sleep.

The doctor shook his head, turned to the party, "Give me some time to examine her and I'll give you a proper prognosis in about… an hour."

Aerith nodded, "Thank you." She then smiled sadly down at her friend, turning and walking out a moment later. The rest of the group soon followed her lead.

When Astrid came too, she was hot, sore, tired, felt sticky, and had a throbbing headache. 'Gah, this is what it must feel like after going to the Mardi Gras…'

She sat up slowly, wincing as her spine creaked in protest and her muscles cursed her a thousand times over.

"Screw you." She grumbled, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and placing them on the floor. Noticing she was in a medical gown, she scowled and looked around the room, finding all of her things in a corner. She walked over to them and opened her backpack, pulling off the gown and looking herself over. 'This is creepy… I've been cleaned and someone's changed my underwear…'

She shivered, then pulled out a pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt, dressing and throwing her weapons and backpack on. 'Gotta find the others.' She walked over to the door, but stopped when she heard voices she didn't recognize on the other side. 'Alright. New plan.' Astrid turned and walked over to the window, propping it open and lifting herself out of it.

On the outside, Astrid brushed herself off and started walking around the building, taking out her sword and checking the hilt. 'Shiva, Fire, and Lightning. Good.' She then took out Vincent's gun and looked at the grip. 'Enemy Skill and Restore. Excellent.'

Around the front of the building, Astrid was confronted with a little town consisting of huts and small gardens. Seeing the blown mako reactor off in the distance, she didn't have to think hard about where she was. 'Welcome, Astrid, to Gongaga.'

Unlike what Hojo had warned her about, Astrid felt no pain or stress from being so close to the Gongaga reactor. 'Maybe it's been dead for too long…'

After walking around town for a bit, Astrid finally caught sight of a familiar, towering figure, "Barret!"

The gunman turned to face her, his eyes widening when he saw her, "Astrid?! What're you doing up an' around?!"

Astrid walked up to him and smiled, shaking her head, "Nice to see you, too."

Barret shook his head, "That's not what I…" He frowned, "Of course it's good to see…" He slammed his fist into his head, "But you should be—"

"Hey, Barret." She cut in, looking around, "Where are the others?"

"Around," Barret growled, still looking a bit confused, "We all agreed to meet back at the hospital at noon to check on you."

Astrid squinted and looked at the sky, "Well, it's almost noon now." She looked back and smiled at him, holding out her arm, "What do you say we head back?

Grumbling, Barret took Astrid's arm and they walked back to the hospital, Barret updating her on the newest member of the group, Cait Sith, and how everything had gone down.

Astrid flinched at the tale of Barret and his friend, Dyne. 'Wow… that's harsh.'

Barret then proceeded to tell her about how she had acted while she was… erherm, crazy, to say the least. Astrid smacked her forehead and groaned when she heard about the 'Larry the Cable Guy' thing and about how she had shoved a cactus onto her arm.

'I swear, if Vincent ever hears about that…' She paused, then frowned, 'Actually, I have no idea what he'll do…'

When they arrived at the hospital, the rest of the group was already there and they were frantically helping the doctor and assistants form search parties to search for… well her, of course. What were you expecting, the Lost City of Atlantis?

Upon walking through the door, Astrid was yanked away from Barret and swept off of her feet and back into the medical room, where Tifa and Aerith worked frantically to remove her equipment while at the same time yelling at her for leaving.

Astrid took all of this silently, letting the women and then the doctor do their examinations of her.

"Well," The doctor said, putting away his tools, "She's all checked out and she's fine. She's free to leave whenever you're ready to move on."

"We're leaving immediately." Astrid said, looking to Cloud for support.

The swordsman looked at her seriously for a moment, then nodded and turned to the rest of the group, "Get ready. We're leaving as soon as we're packed."

As the others walked out of the room, Astrid turned to Cait Sith, who was the only one left, and frowned, "Did you have to go to those measures to get into the group?"

Cait Sith turned to her and nodded, "I have no idea how you did it! They're so… untrusting."

She rolled her eyes, "They have good reason with you, don't you think?"

The cat shrugged, watching her as she stood and gathered her things. "Some of us were worried, you know."

Astrid looked up from buckling the belt to her scabbard, "Eh?"

Cait Sith shrugged, looking out the window, "When the building was searched after the… incident and you weren't in iso, some of us were worried. Me, the suits," He looked at her meaningfully, Astrid getting that the 'suits' meant the Turks, "Heck, even the Prez was a bit worried, and he was the one who sent you off, I heard."

Astrid nodded, pulling on her backpack, "Yeah. He decided that, with his predecessor dead, the deal was malarkey and that I was good to go."

The cat shook his head, "I'm… sorry it turned out like it did." He turned to the door and opened it for her.

"Eh, no big." Astrid shrugged, walking alongside the moogle-riding cat out of the hospital and through the town. "I… had a feeling it was going to turn out like that, anyway."

Cait Sith shook his head and laughed, "The oracle."

Astrid grinned and shrugged, "Of sorts."

At the edge of town, they saw Yuffie standing down the road. When the ninja saw them, she waved, "We're all at the car!" She then turned and ran down the path.

Sighing, Astrid shook her head and looked at Cait Sith, "Did they go to the reactor?"

"I dunno." The cat shrugged, "Why would they?"

"There's a materia or two there we might want." The came to a fork in the path and Astrid pulled Cait Sith down the path that wound deeper into the forest, "Come on. We'll go get it before we head to the car."

Cait Sith looked at the forest around them as it deepened and shuddered, "Are you sure about this?"

Astrid shrugged, "Not really. But we need to do it; we need all the materia we can get, right?"

"I suppose…" The cat replied slowly, looking around the path again. When the old reactor was in view and the trees began to thin, Cait Sith nervously asked, "Isn't this one of the places Hojo told you to avoid?"

"It's fine," Astrid assured, stepping over an old piece of burnt metal, "I think this reactor's been dead too long to actually hurt me. I think that, if there were any wild mako out here, I would have felt it back in town, trust me. I started feeling the Corel mako about two miles away from the reactor, and it was a controlled reactor."

They walked through the forest of metal debris and, somewhere along the line, walked straight into the building without noticing until they stood before the containment chamber of where the materia used to be held.

Bending down, Astrid opened the hatch and peered inside, "Hey, I think I see it!" When she got no reply, she looked back, "Cait Sith?"

The moogle was turned away from her and the cat was looking up at the sky.

Astrid stood, tapping the cat on the shoulder and whispering, "Reeve?"

Suddenly, the moogle sprung back to life and turned to face her, the cat grabbing her shoulder and pulling her as the moogle backed into the shadows. "Hide, now!" Cait Sith hissed, shoving her behind a shelf of metal, then running off to hide somewhere else.

She was confused for a moment, but when Astrid heard the sound of whirring helicopter blades, she ducked down further into the shadows and clapped her hands over her mouth, holding a gasp. 'Stupid, stupid Astrid! You forgot about Scarlet!'

After a few moments, the sound of clacking heels echoed sharply though the room. Astrid peered out just as Scarlet swept up to the reactor core, long red dress swishing and sharp heels planted firmly on the ground. The woman bent, a shadow of a frown crossing her face as she noticed the hatch was already open.

She held out a hand and a soldier emerged from behind some metal, handing her a pair of gloves. Scarlet took the gloves and slipped them on, reaching inside of the core and removing a single red orb. She held it up and inspected it, as if through a light.

"This one is completely useless." She sneered after a moment, dropping the materia on the ground. "Whatever Huge Materia used to be here is gone, now. More than likely deteriorated or scattered in the explosion."

The soldier watched her as she removed her gloves with a sigh. "Ma'am," He said after a moment, "Shall we check the other areas?"

"No need." Scarlet briskly replied, tossing the gloves back to the man, "We were only checking this one to see if it was still here. The President wanted to be sure no one stole it."

"How do we know no one has if it isn't here?" The soldier asked cautiously, dropping the gloves into a plastic bag and tying it shut securely.

"There's residue left over from the Huge Materia." Scarlet answered, pointing to the bag as the gloves inside began to glow faintly, "Recovered materia doesn't leave behind live residue. Deteriorated or destroyed does." She sighed and walked passed the soldier, "Well, that's all we had to do here. Let's be off to Midgar."

Ten minutes later, when the noise of the helicopter had faded, Astrid and Cait Sith emerged from their hiding places, Astrid picking up the summon materia. "How exactly is Huge Materia made?"

Cait Sith shrugged, "It's basically a huge amount of concentrated mako with one vague purpose, like summon magic or regular magic. It's unusable by individual humans as an equipped item, but it can be utilized with the proper equipment."

Astrid stared at the materia for a moment. It started to glow red and something that screamed 'Earth' tugged at her head, a voice saying, "_I am Titan. Use me to your will._"

On their way back to the fork in the rode, Astrid asked Cait Sith, "Tell me, how can you stand working with a woman like her, anyway?"

The cat shrugged, "Our departments don't work too closely together, so the only time I really see her is during board meetings, and I usually just ignore her. In fact, the only one I actually have to work fairly close with is Heidegger."

"Ah." Astrid nodded, waving to Yuffie when she saw the ninja jumping up and down on the top of the car. "Hey, I got another question."

"Shoot." Cait Sith nodded.

"That first day we met, in the meeting room," She glanced over at him and grinned, "Were you laughing with me or at me?"

The cat laughed loudly, causing everyone who was standing around the car to look at him oddly. Cait Sith ignored them and looked up at Astrid, his grin just as wide as hers, "With you, Astrid. Definitely with you."


	21. The Prologue Lies in Cosmo Canyon

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(_The Prologue_ Lies in Cosmo Canyon)

The ride to Cosmo Canyon wasn't necessarily long, but because they were used to walking and encountering monsters, the party was quickly bored. After singing "Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall" a total of eighteen times, even Yuffie was getting bored.

Then, as Astrid was going through her pockets and she pulled out the red Titan material, a thought struck her, "Hey, can I see all of the materia we have, as well as everyone's weapons?"

Barret looked at her as if she had two heads, "What for?"

Astrid sighed and shook her head, pulling out her weapons and materia, "Because I am extremely bored and I feel like going OCD and organizing everything."

Few in the group could argue the sense of having their things organized, so they all handed over their weapons and materia, and those who were able to watch sat back and watched Astrid begin to organize.

Conveniently enough, the car was designed like an actual limo, with a separate area for the driver and a passenger in the front seat. The back area was designed so that the seats wound around the walls of the car so that there was a blank space in the center, and a fairly large one. After shoving her backpack and a few other bags into her seat, it was in this blank space that Astrid worked.

She spread the weapons in a circle around herself and stacked all of the materia into a little pile on her lap, starting her job by cataloging everything they had.

'Let's see… two 'Fire' materia, one 'Thunder', two 'Ice', three 'Enemy Skill', two 'Restore', two 'All', one 'Earth', one 'Chocobo Lure', yada yada yada, and for the summons, one 'Choco/Mog', one 'Shiva', one 'Ifrit', one 'Ramuh', and one 'Titan'.'

Taking those into account, she began to pick up the weapons one by one and equipped them with the materia. 'Let's see… Aerith and I'll take the 'Restore' and the 'All's… Cloud and Red will take the 'Fire's… Tifa gets the 'Thunder' and Yuffie gets and 'Ice'… Cait Sith can have one of the 'Enemy Skill' and the 'Earth'… Barret gets an 'Enemy Skill' and the other 'Ice'… I'll take the last 'Enemy Skill' and 'Shiva', Cait Sith gets 'Choco/Mog', Tifa gets 'Ifrit', Aerith gets 'Ramuh' and Cloud gets 'Titan'.'

"There." Astrid said triumphantly when she was finished. "All done." She then handed back everyone's weapons.

"What about the rest of the materia you have on your lap?" Yuffie asked, seeing a few blank slots on her shuriken.

"We don't want to equipped too much materia at once." Astrid reasoned, moving their stuff and taking her seat, "Materia does give us powers, but it also weakens our physical and mental attributes. It's best we wait until we're stronger to lay the materia on heavy."

"We're here." Cloud called, pulling the car to a stop.

Astrid flung open the door and let Red XIII jump out passed her, following him with a smile on her face. She watched him as he jumped around, gazing at the town of Cosmo Canyon with wide eyes. 'He looks just like an excited kitten…' Then, a pang went through her, 'Wait… he said he was leaving us when…'

"Red."

The feline turned to her, blinking when he saw her kneeling before him, tears in her eyes, "Astrid?"

She smiled and stroked his head, "I think you have someone waiting for you."

He blinked, then nodded solemnly, turning to the group. They stared at him as he walked forward to address them, "This is… where my road ends with you. I welcome you to rest and explore the village and to come meet my grandfather, but I will no longer be traveling with you." He bowed his head, "If I do not see you again before you leave, I wish you well." He turned and bound away, speeding up the stairs to his home.

Astrid grinned and shook her head at his quick exit. 'Guess he's not one for long goodbyes…' She then turned to the group and crossed her arms, "Whadda say? Move on, or look around and get some supplies… maybe rest?"

"I vote the latter." Tifa said, raising her hand.

"I second." Aerith agreed.

By the time the group was done voting, Cloud was the only one left. He shook his head and sighed, "Well, let's head into the village."

They all dispersed, Astrid immediately heading to the fire pit and sitting at the edge. Other than going to see Bugenhagen, Astrid didn't really have anything else to do, and she didn't want to trigger the events that would follow meeting Bugenhagen too early. So she occupied herself with sitting and looking at the village around her.

It was definitely one of the more colorful places she had seen so far, and definitely the coolest place on this island. Being so elevated in the canyon, the village got a nice ocean breeze, and the air felt cool from the deep forests nearby, which mingled with the salty wind and gave the air an odd tang. And, unlike any of the others places she had been so far, Cosmo Canyon was the most isolated from mako reactors and city pollution, so the evening sky clear and all the stars shone brightly.

'I think that, if I were to set up permanent residence in Gaia… this would my near the top of my list as a positive.'

She flopped back onto the ground and closed her eyes, letting the blaze from the fire warm her right side and the breeze from the ocean and forests cool her left. She was just dozing off when someone nudged her head.

"Astrid."

She shot up and looked around, smiling, "Hey, Red. Or can I finally call you Nanaki?"

He shrugged, "Either way, it doesn't matter. But that's not why I'm here," He shook his head and looked at her with a new resolve, "My grandfather, Bugenhagen, is taking me into the mines beneath the town and I wanted to know if you wished to accompany us. The rest of the group is going, though attendance is entirely voluntary."

"Nope." Astrid answered, shooting into a standing position, "It's not voluntary in the least. You're going to need all the help you can get." She remembered what boss waited for the party at the end of the catacombs, and she knew she couldn't sit this fight out.

Red blinked up at her, "Foreknowledge?"

Astrid looked down at him and nodded, "You betcha."

At the entrance to the catacombs, Bugenhagen was the only one waiting for them.

"I'll be back soon, Grandfather." Red turned and dashed off.

This left Astrid alone with Bugenhagen. '…Okay, then… Awkward… Thanks a lot, Nanaki!'

"Hello," Bugenhagen said after a moment, bowing slightly, "I am Bugenhagen, elder of this village."

"Astrid Cray." She bowed back, "And I'm… no one of any particular importance."

"Oh hooo!" Bugenhagen laughed, shaking his head, "Well, the Prologue begs to differ."

Astrid frowned, "The what?"

"The Prologue." The old man answered, looking at her with a spark of mischievousness in his eyes, "Don't you remember? You are, after all, the one who wrote it."

She blinked, then shook her head, "Nope. Haven't the slightest clue."

"Oho!" Bugenhagen laughed again, spinning in a circle, "Then I'll have to show it to you later."

"Wha—" Astrid was cut off as the rest of the group joined them.

Bugenhagen acted as if nothing had been said and opened the door, joining the party.

Astrid barely remembered the time in the catacombs, mainly because she was too busy thinking about what Bugenhagen had said. 'What's the Prologue? Something I wrote? But… I haven't written anything since…' She trailed off, not remembering the last time she wrote something. It had been so long…

"Astrid, look out!"

She jerked back into her body, flinging herself to her right just in time to narrowly avoid being speared by a giant tiki-like monster. 'We're at the boss battle, already?! Dang it!' "Shiva! Use Diamond Dust!"

The ice spirit back flipped out of a torrent of snow, backhanding a plume of fire that the boss had just unleashed. She then waved her hand and summoned a flat tundra of ice, trapping the tiki beneath it. The tundra then imploded and crushed the tiki, severely damaging it.

The tiki, though, melted some of the ice before it had a chance to crush him, and he burst out of the tundra, waving his flaming arms and madder than ever. One of his dancing flames disappeared from sight, and the group looked around in a panic while still fighting.

Astrid was slashing at the tiki's legs when she felt something hot touch her head, then slowly begin to spread down her body. She jumped back and waved a hand at her head, but felt nothing. Then, a red haze settled over her eyes like a film, blinding her.

The next few moments were a mess for her. She could see nothing but red, but she could feel her body moving of its own accord, swinging her sword arm madly. Many a time she felt her sword land, but not once could she see its target… or targets.

She also felt blows being laid on her, though she could not see who threw them at her. As her body attacked and the blows of unseen forces hit her back, she felt a rage build up inside of her, fueling her attacks and darkening the red veil until it was blood red.

As the pressure of her anger grew and grew, she felt the swinging of her sword become quicker and quicker, and then she wasn't thinking in terms of being on AVALANCHE's side. There was only one thing on her mind: Kill.

In a rage, she finally regained her sight, though everything was a red haze. But, everyone she saw was the enemy.

The giant monster was too far away for her liking, so she turned on the red cat beside her, snarling and swinging her sword down angrily with both hands.

The red cat saw her at the last second and dodged, rolling aside and looking at her with wide eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but none of what came out made sense to her, so she attacked again.

She continued to attack over and over, but the cat dodged every blow, still shouting unintelligible things at her. She was about to lunge again when something heavy slammed into the back of her head. Then, she was falling, falling, falling… falling… fa-….ling… f… black.

"Ugh…" Astrid moaned, hands flying to her head and gripping it tightly, trying to somehow stem the throbbing pain. Even with her eyes closed, the light was too bright in the room and every movement she made evoked pain.

"Astrid?"

She winced as the voice attacked her pained head, then opened her eyes slowly, "Wha…"

Yuffie popped into her view, the ninja tilting her head, "You awake?"

"Nngh." Astrid closed her eyes and clamped her hands over them. She nearly screamed when Yuffie shouted "She's awake!", the girl's voice ringing in her ears painfully.

"Yuffie… shut your bloody trap." Though Yuffie didn't hear her angered groan and continued to shout to high heaven.

"That will be quite enough, Miss Yuffie." Bugenhagen's calm voice said, mercifully cutting of the ninja's shouts. "You may join your group now; I'd like a moment alone with Miss Astrid."

The sound of feet scuffling away made Astrid let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank Gaia… she's gone.'

"Miss Astrid?" She lowered her hands and squinted open her eyes, Bugenhagen staring down at her seriously, "I'd like a word with you, when you're ready to sit up."

Moaning, Astrid pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. After a moment, she came to the conclusion that she was in Bugenhagen's observatory, more specifically lying on a cot in his library.

"I thought it would be more convenient to have you wake up here directly," Bugenhagen said, floating to a few of the shelves on the opposite side of the room, "Then to have brought you here from the inn. That might have lead to… undesired questions from your group."

"Okay then," Astrid grunted, pushing herself to her feet, "You got me here, and you got me alone. What do you want?"

"I wish," Bugenhagen muttered, flipping through the books, "To speak to you of the Prologue. Ah! Here it is." He took a book from the shelf, holding it before him and blowing off dust that must have taken several years to accumulate.

When a plume of dust wafted her way, Astrid attempted to beat it back with her hand, coughing, "T-that's the cough second time you've br- sneeze… uhg, brought up the Prologue." She sighed as the dust settled, looking at the old man skeptically as he floated back down to her. "That exactly is the Prologue? And how do you know that I'm the one who wrote it?"

Bugenhagen shrugged, handing the Book over to her, "You signed it."

Astrid took the Book from the man, throwing another look at him before looking at the Book, turning the heavy item over in her hands. Though it was no thicker than a matchbox, it was as heavy as a well versed dictionary. The cover was blank and black, but embedded in the spine ran two thin chords of intertwining metal, twisting in and out of each other in an intricate knot. And, as Bugenhagen said, her signature was at the bottom of the book cover: _Astrid Cray_

Flipping the cover open, she ran her fingers over the heavy yellowed pages. 'Okay, this thing is older than old…' She flipped through a few pages, frowning when none of them bent like normal paper. 'It wouldn't surprise me if this thing was older than dirt. These pages have the same consistency as a sheet of shale; rigid yet brittle.'

She stopped at the first page of written word, blinking at the clarity of the letters. 'The book's older than dirt, but all of the writing looks like its still fresh…' She looked at the writing of the title page, tracing the flowing letters.

_**The Prologue**_

Quirking a brow, Astrid looked up at Bugenhagen and tapped the page, "My handwriting isn't half as good as this, and you say this is mine?"

The old man shook his head and laughed, "Hoo hoo! That, my dear, is what editors are for." He waved at her, "Keep going, and pay attention to the contents rather than the packaging."

Astrid shook her head and looked on, flipping to the next page. Seeing it was the beginning of the actual story, Astrid hunkered closer to the page and began reading.

**_This is the story of a girl who was like any other._**

Astrid immediately blinked, shaking her head. She then read the first line again, her lips moving as she read it silently. Confused, Astrid frowned. 'This seems a bit… familiar…'

**_She had common brown hair,_**

**_common green eyes,_**

"Common clothes with tags that all said 'Made in Guatemala', or some other common country that made common clothes." Astrid muttered out loud, then looked at the next lines.

**_...common clothes with tags that all said 'Made in Guatemala', or some other common country that made common clothes._**

Astrid stumbled backwards, her legs crashing into the cot and her body dropping on it heavily.

**_She may have been a bit paler than most_**

**_and she may have been a bit…_**

The Book fell from her hands and Astrid stared at it, her hands shaking. "This isn't happening."

"It is." Bugenhagen said immediately, suddenly floating beside her.

She looked up at him, pleading, "Bugenhagen… please… tell me what's going on."

The man shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure. That book has always been in this library, even before I was born. But, I do know this; when I first perused the Book, only the first two pages behind the title page held writing. The rest of the pages were blank. Now," He picked the Book back up and flipped past the prologue, "The rest of the pages are starting to fill, and all on their own. Take a look." He held out the Book to her.

She took it and looked at the page, which was quite a ways into the Book. The first half of the left-hand page had writing while the second half and all of the right page were blank. Then, even as she was looking at it, another sentence formed in the Book, as if someone were writing in it. She looked at the sentence.

**_The girl watched with fear and wonder as the sentence began to write itself onto the page, astounded that it knew exactly how she felt…_**

Astrid screamed and threw the Book away from herself. She stared at it with wide

eyes as it flew across the room and slammed into the bookshelf, then fell to the floor with an unnaturally loud 'bang'.

"Astrid." She looked up at Bugenhagen, who floated over to the Book and picked it up, turning to her and looking at her gravely, "This book is telling your story."

She shivered uncontrollably for a moment, staring at the Book with wide, fearful eyes. Then, as if all of the air had been let out of her, she hunched forward and sighed, suddenly very tired and lethargic. "What do I do?"

Bugenhagen shrugged, "Nothing different than what you have been doing, I would think. It's not like this book is commanding you to do anything; you are."

Astrid frowned, "How am I doing that and what, exactly, am I commanding myself to do?"

"You," Bugenhagen said, flipping open the Book to the first page, "Wrote the prologue, and you wrote it of your own accord. No one made you do it and, until now, no one knew about it. This is all you. And, as for what you are commanding yourself to do… well…" He laughed, "Hoo hoo, let's just refer to the Prologue, shall we?" He flipped open the Book and began reading:

**_This girl, born with a common world yet holding an uncommon destiny, would never be able to fulfill her calling in the world in which she had grown._**

**_She was needed elsewhere._**

**_To fulfill her destiny, the girl would have to traverse time and space, going from her world to the world where she was needed._**

**_To fulfill her destiny, she would have to leave behind everyone she loved and everything she had ever worked for._**

**_But, the girl would not journey alone. With her, she would bring the most unexpected of company, and it would be for this company that she would risk her life and make important decisions._**

**_The journey would be hard._**

**_There would be times when she would wish to quit._**

**_But, no matter what, she would have to push on._**

**_For, if she quits, the lives of herself and those around her would end, and the world she was meant to help save would be destroyed._**

**_And if that world died then her world would perish._**

_…**This is the story of a girl.**_

**_A girl with a destiny._**

**_A girl who would have greatness shoved upon her in the most violent of ways._**

**_A girl who was destined either to change the world… or perish in the throes that destiny forced upon her._**

**_A girl who would face pain, anger, joy, success, love, failure, life, and death to complete her quest._**

**_And the name of that girl is…_**

**_Astrid._**

Bugenhagen shook his head, chuckling, "Rather vague, aren't you?"

Astrid rolled her eyes, glaring at her hands, "I'm supposed to go off of that? Some instruction manual that is."

"It's not supposed to be an instruction manual." Bugenhagen said, "Just… a live journal of your journey."

She was silent for a moment, brow furrowing as she thought. She then sighed and stood, "Would you… hold onto that for me?" Astrid asked, nodding to the Book, "I don't think it'll be of much use to me if it only contains the past."

"Oh, I believe it may be of some vital use to you," Bugenhagen insisted with a twinkle in his eye, "But, of course. I'll keep it safe until you need it." He floated back to the shelf from where he had grabbed the Book and put it back. When he floated back down, he nodded to her, "Now, your company is waiting. Come, I shall take you to them."

Astrid followed the man out of the room, pausing briefly to look back at the Book. Shaking her head, she walked out of the room and shut the door.


	22. Nibelheim: The Largest Stage

Okay, so before we get to the disclaimer, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who has been of such great help, support, and encouragement to me for this particular story… IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER! :

DragonessWarrior (added me to Alert list)

JeanneAndHerAlters (added me to Alert list)

Mata-Nui3000 (insight, Alert, Favorited, just to name a few)

Terikel (insight, Alert, Favorited, just to name a few)

So, these people, and of course the readers who read and don't review… but that's not a bad thing! At least you honored me with reading it, which makes me happy!

…So… yeah… thanks… ... … … Awkward… DISCLAIMER!

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Nibelheim: The Largest Stage)

As they got into the car and pulled away from Cosmo Canyon, Astrid leaned over and pulled Red XIII into a hug, "Glad that you're still with us, Nanaki."

The feline flinched, then grinned and nuzzled against her, "As am I, Astrid."

Astrid smiled at him, then leaned back and looked out the car window, watching as the chasms of the Cosmo Area opened to the green landscape that lay between Cosmo and Nibel. Her frown faded a bit, 'Nibelheim is up, next. That means some back flashbacks for some of the group,' She glanced at Cloud and Tifa, 'And it also means Vincent will be joining us, soon.' She paused, frowning, 'I wonder how I'll be able to convince them to search for him…' She winced, remembering the Yuffie incident, 'Definitely don't want a replay of that.'

"You know," She shook her head and looked at Barret, who was grinning at her, "You can go through some of the quickest mood shifts I have ever seen."

She laughed along with him, trailing off weakly and returning to staring out the window. 'Well, at least there's an upside; they trust me more than they used to, so they're more likely to listen to any suggestions I make. Now, how to approach this… well, how did you find out about Vincent to begin with?'

When Marcus had been playing, he had just gone off of what he had seen his friend do as well as a few tips his friend had given him over the phone; Marcus hadn't actually played played. So, when Marcus had reached the Shinra mansion, he'd just automatically scoured the house of all its items, then headed up to the room and started to try to open the safe… and failed, miserably. That, of course, was when Astrid intervened. But now…

"Astrid."

She jerked and opened her eyes, sitting up and looking around blearily. She'd fallen asleep…

"Astrid?"

"Eh?" Astrid looked over at Aerith, who smiled and nodded to the door.

"We're here." Aerith said, gently poking Astrid in the back.

Groaning, Astrid opened the door and tumbled out, letting out a pained "Owie!" when her sword and Vincent's gun bore into her sides. She lay prone on the ground for a few moments as the others jumped over her to get out of the car, then was hoisted into the air by the collar of her shirt.

"You awright?" Barret asked, spinning her around to look at her face.

"Fine." Astrid grumbled, flailing a bit, "Just fine. Could you put me down now?" Once she was back on the ground, Astrid brushed herself off and turned towards their final destination.

Nibelheim was smaller than she had expected… either that or the mountains were bigger. Whichever it was, it made Astrid feel a whole lot smaller.

As they approached the town, Tifa and Cloud became silent, thinking about the chaos and destruction they would be faced with inside of the town square. What they saw, though, clearly wasn't what they had expected. The two looked around with mixed shock, confusion, and anger at the state the town was in.

Everything looked as it had before the fire, or at least Astrid assumed it to look like what it once had. On top of that, there were people walking around the town as if they owned it, acting like they had been born and raised there. Of course, out of all of the people in town, that was only true for two of the people present.

Clenching his hands, Cloud stormed over to the nearest building, which happened to be the inn, Tifa, Barret, Aerith, and Yuffie following close behind him.

Astrid stood back and watched them go, Cait Sith and Red standing beside her and looking around.

Red frowned, "Wasn't this place supposed to be…"

"Destroyed?" Astrid filled in, scowling at every person that past, "Yeah, it was. Sephiroth burned the town and killed almost all of its occupants, then left it in shambles. Then… well… guess who stepped in?"

"Shin-Ra." Red snarled, joining her in glaring at every person in the town. He then hesitated, then frowned, "Then… who are these people?"

"Who knows." Astrid answered, shrugging, "All I know is this; I already don't like whatever is going on here."

Cait Sith glanced up at her nervously and Red XIII suspiciously, both of them already getting the vibe that she knew exactly what was going on here, but neither knowing that the other was having the same thoughts. Due to Cait Sith's known affiliation with Shin-Ra and Red's known hatred of Shin-Ra, neither of them had actually talked to each other on a close level about much of anything, thus neither of them knew that the other knew that Astrid knew more than she let on.

Astrid knew this, and she was thankful for it. After all, if they began to collaborate on their information, they might reach conclusions and ask questions of her that she didn't feel particularly inclined to answer.

"Excuse me." She muttered, turning and walking around the square, acting like she was exploring the town. She peered into a few windows, looking for the one house in town that was unoccupied. 'That was Tifa's house… right?'

The house she found was tall and white, the windows were dark and the state of the weeds around the door told her that no one had been in the house regularly in some time. Jingling the knob experimentally, the door swung open to the dark house, greeting her eerily with a blast of cold air.

She walked inside and began to search the walls for a light switch, her fingers scrabbling against the wallpaper until they met the small plastic levers. She flipped on the lights and looked around, a bit shocked. Despite the obvious disuse of the house, the inside was impeccably clean and fresh, not a speck of dust in sight and all of the furniture smelling piney fresh.

An odd thumping from upstairs pulled her back from her examination of a picture and she looked at the stairs, trying to remember why exactly she had wanted to go to Tifa's house. 'I think it was something to do with her room…'

The stairs were as clean and glimmering as the rest of the house, and as fresh as the banister was it was still ice cold to the touch, numbing her hand in minutes of touching it. But Astrid didn't care. She ignored her cold hand and focused on taking her time up the stairs, listening for the sound.

As soon as she set foot on the landing, she heard the thump again, coming from the room directly in front of her. Astrid walked to the doorway slowly, peeking her head inside and looking around. She saw it beneath the window, slowly pacing back and forth.

It was about as tall as her, and it moved in a jerky, hunched manner, almost like the decrepit monsters from one of those horror movies. It was covered from head to foot in a long, black robe, with a large hood that covered its face.

It didn't seem to hear her as she walked in, stepping lightly towards it. A little voice in her head was screaming at her to turn back, but her body kept moving forward. Before she knew it, Astrid was standing right behind the thing and tapping it on the shoulder.

It stopped quickly, turning to her and looking right at her. Then, slowly, it lifted its arms, sleeves sliding down to reveal alabaster skin and bony hands. It grabbed its hood and pulled it back, and Astrid's eyes widened.

* * *

The group made their way up the stairs of Tifa's house slowly, listening and trying to understand what they were hearing. They all walked into Tifa's room slowly, standing back and watching their companion in utter confusion.

Astrid was standing in front of the piano and pounding away at the keys angrily, the bench shoved aside and several pieces of paper spread out before her like sheet music. The song that she was playing was oddly melancholic and angry, and her fingers danced across the keys in complex patterns and convoluted trills. Still, despite the obvious difficulty of the piece, she had her head bent and her eyes shut tightly, her jaw clenched until all of the individual cords in her neck stood out with sickening clarity.

They waited until she had pounded away the last few notes of the song, then stared at her in shock as she stood and stared directly at them, as if she knew they had been there all along. Her hair was wildly askew and her cheeks were burning with livid color, but her eyes and her posture told them that she was extremely worn and tired.

Tifa stepped forward after a moment, "Something isn't right here, Astrid."

Astrid nodded, saying nothing.

Tifa went on, "The people in this town… they say that there never was a fire… that they have all lived here all their lives. But… Cloud and I don't recognize any of them."

Astrid nodded again.

The martial artist paused, then said, with her voice cracking, "I… I want to know what happened, and… you're never that angry unless you know something or you've found out about something… like back at Shin-Ra… and with Yuffie… and when Marcus showed up on the Junon ship… and in Corel… and now…" The woman trailed off, lowering her head. She took a moment to breath, then looked up at Astrid with determined eyes, "So… so if you know anything, please… tell me."

Astrid started at her silently for a moment, then turned back to the piano and began to arrange the papers neatly, tapping them on the keys to get them straight. She then turned to Tifa and held them out, walking out of the room after the woman had taken them from her hands.

Outside of the house, Astrid walked straight to the Shinra mansion, thoughts racing through her head as the words that were on those papers came back to her with disturbing clarity, retelling the account of the new Nibelheim over and over. 'Shin-Ra is acting like what happened in Nibelheim never happened. They've trained and are paying a bunch of people to act like nothing happened, and they're also using this place as a part of the Reunion experiment, planting the Sephiroth clones and keeping close watch on them.'

She stood at the gates of the Shinra mansion, glaring at the building. 'I have to get him out of there. There is no way in hell I'll leave him in that house. I don't give a damn if he doesn't want to; I'll make him move his fucking coffin to somewhere else if I have to. He is not staying in that damn house any longer.'

Just then, a breeze picked up, swirling the leaves around the mansion. It creaked loudly, making her shudder. '_Go._'

Astrid blinked, looking over at the house. "What the…"

'_Go._' The whisper called again, '_Do not enter this house. Leave, and never return._'

Astrid frowned, already getting a vague idea of who it was, "Like hell I will, Vincent. I'm coming in there whether you like it nor not."

'_Go!_' The voice hissed angrily, the wind picking up.

"Oh, I'm really terrified." Astrid scoffed, rolling her eyes, "All turn and flee from the bodiless voice; it has the power to repeat the same general thing over and over again, much like a tape recorder!"

'…' The voice did not reply and the wind died, the leaves fluttering back to the ground. The house fell silent.

Astrid stood back triumphantly, setting her hands on her hips and throwing her head back, "Hah! Take that!"

"Astrid?" She jumped and turned back, Tifa walking towards her with a confused look on her face, "Is something… wrong?"

"Nope!" Astrid replied brightly, smiling, "Just me having a conversation with good ol' conversable me. Nothing to worry about, at all!"

Tifa laughed nervously, then trailed off, staring at the ground and leaning against the mansion gate. "I can't believe what's going on here…"

Astrid shrugged, "Well, you know what they say: All the world's a stage. But these people might just be taking it too far, don't you think?"

The woman let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head, "I think these people deserve to pay dearly for what they're doing." She glared back at the town and slammed a fist into her open palm. She then looked back at Astrid, smiling slightly, "Thanks. …You know, for listening. And for finding those papers and showing them to me. It really… helped."

"Helped what?" Astrid asked, quirking a brow, "Make you more levelheaded or make you angrier? Because, right now, all evidence is pointing to the latter."

"It helped me understand." Tifa relied evenly, "Now I know a bit more about what I'm up against… what we're up against." She nodded to Astrid, "Thank you for that."

"No problem." Astrid replied, smiling, "Glad to do whatever I can."

Tifa nodded again, then turned to the Shinra mansion, "This place looks shabbier than I remember."

Turning to face the building with her friend, Astrid nodded, "I wonder how long it's been since anyone from the Shinra family has actually stayed here…"

"I dunno." Tifa replied, shrugging, "I don't remember anyone ever staying here… but, then again, I kinda don't remember a lot of the smaller details of those days."

Astrid nodded, then looked over her shoulder, "Where are the others?"

"Off exploring some more." Tifa turned and sat down, leaning back against the gate, "I couldn't look anymore. It was making me sick." She stopped, shaking her head and looking up at Astrid, "What were those cloaked things? They were so…" She trailed off, staring at Astrid worriedly.

Upon Tifa mentioning the clones, the memory of the clone she encountered returned to Astrid's mind and she began to shake. She remembered how bony it had been and how white… how its skin had been like alabaster. Then, when it had pulled back its hood to stare at her… Astrid began to shake more violently. Its face had been so gaunt, its skin so thin and white. It looked at her with large eyes, the irises black and the pupils white. It had lank silver hair that hung from its scalp like wet rope, slapping against its skin noisily and swinging back and forth heavily with each move it made.

And its voice… so hallow… croaking… It had said to her, "Master Sephiroth… must find… reunion…" Then, it grabbed her by the shoulders, "Master Marcus… calling you… welcome… come to reunion…" She hadn't waited any longer. Astrid had pulled away from it and ran out of the room, slamming the door.

"Astrid?! Astrid!"

She snapped out of her vision and looked at Tifa, who was standing in front of her and shaking her by the shoulders, worry in her eyes.

"Astrid!" Tifa pulled her into a hug, "Are you alright?"

"Fine, fine." Astrid muttered distantly, hugging Tifa back before pushing her away, "Just a bad memory, was all." Hearing footsteps, she turned back to the town and saw the company heading their way. "Look who's coming…"

Once everyone was there, Cloud walked to the gate, staring transfixed at the mansion.

"Cloud." He jerked out of his daze and looked at Astrid, who shook her head, "'Ware the truth you seek, young warrior, least it be more than you can handle; the adventurous candle wandered into a Pit too deep to Light, and it's Flame was swallowed whole by the Shadow." She paused, then shrugged, "I think I read that somewhere… or one of my grandparents said that… or I could have just made it up. I don't know. But, nonetheless…" She trailed off, looking at him gravely.

Cloud nodded, turning back to the mansion, "I know. Thanks." He then pushed the gates open and stepped forward, the rest of the group following close behind.

Astrid hesitated, then followed.


	23. Into the Manse

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Into The Manse)

The mansion was larger and colder than Astrid could have ever imagined it to be. It was so cold she could see her breath puff before her eyes, floating in the air so thickly she was just waiting for it to solidify into a stream of ice. She was suddenly very glad that she had put on her coat back in Cosmo Canyon, hugging the material close to herself.

"I think we should split up." She suddenly suggested, shrugging when everyone looked at her oddly, "We'll cover more ground, find what we need quicker, and get the hell out of here faster. This place is freezing and it gives me the creeps."

They all agreed, and they began to split into parties. When Astrid noticed a few problems arising in several areas, she stepped in and began to arrange the parties, herself, seeing that no one was going to be levelheaded enough to do so.

One problem that arose was between Tifa and Aerith, both of whom wanted to go with Cloud, but there were several problems with this idea. First off, in order to evenly distribute the stats of the group so they would all be on even, safe ground, it would either have to be Tifa or Aerith who went with Cloud, not both. The second problem arose when they tried to chose who should go with Cloud, and this initiated a slightly verbal and largely mental catfight between the two women.

Astrid sighed and shook her head, 'Ah, well. I'm surprised they managed to hold it in this long.' "Alright, neither Tifa nor Aerith will be going with Cloud." They all looked at her and she stepped forward, beginning to take several people by their arms and moving them around. "Cloud will go with Red and Yuffie."

Then, the second problem arose with Cait Sith. Factually, the only reason he was still traveling with the group was because he had blackmailed his way into it, and this led to some obvious resentment from the rest of the group to the Shin-Ra employee. In reality, Astrid figured she was the only one who actually trusted Cait Sith, and that was based quite a bit, though not entirely, on the fact that she had something over him.

"Cait Sith and I will make a group, ourselves. That leaves Aerith, Tifa, and Barret for the final group." Astrid concluded, pushing everyone into their final groups and pointing to the house, "Now, start searching!"

Though not everyone was happy with the arrangements, they all set off without saying much else, Astrid holding back Cait Sith until she was sure everyone was gone.

Sighing, she then turned to the cat and smiled wearily, "Shall we, then?" And they began searching the entrance hall.

After several moments of silence and searching, Cait Sith interrupted Astrid by muttering, "Thanks for that. I'm not sure how all of this would have worked out if you hadn't…"

"It would have worked out fine." Astrid assured him, flipping through some papers in the alcove to the left of the front door, "It just would have been really awkward and uncomfortable on your behalf." She stopped at one paper, "Hold the phone…" She read through it several times, then handed it to Cait Sith.

It was a letter from Hojo, hinting at the existence of Vincent and telling whoever found the note that there were several clues around the house that would allow them to free him, if the finder so wished, though it didn't use any names.

Cait Sith read it, then confusedly handed it back to Astrid, "What is it?"

"A letter from Hojo." Astrid replied, looking the note over again.

The cat frowned, "You sure?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I recognize his writing."

"What does it mean? That there's someone here that he locked up and left?" The cat asked, still frowning.

She nodded again, "Yeah, that's what it looks like."

Cait Sith paused, watching Astrid as she read the letter over and over. He then asked, "We're gonna find him, ain't we?"

Astrid nodded yet again, smiling at the cat and petting his head, "You're such a perceptive little furball."

The cat shook his head, Reeve's voice coming over the intercom, "Cloud isn't going to like this."

"What's your point, Reeve?" Astrid asked, shrugging, "There's someone trapped here and we have the power to find him, so why not? What could it hurt?"

"This could be something Hojo planned." Reeve offered desperately, trying hard to steer Astrid away from finding the man.

Astrid paused, looking at the cat curiously. She then turned to him and bent forward, quirking a brow, "Reeve, do you know who it is that Hojo trapped here?"

The cat looked away, scratching the back of its head sheepishly and switching back to the Cait Sith voice, "No…"

She frowned, grabbing the cat's chin and making it face her, "You're lying to me, Reeve. I don't like that. I'm the only one here who you can say mostly trusts you, and you're lying to me."

"I'm sorry Astrid," The cat murmured, jerking his head out of her hand, "But there are some things I can't tell even you, no matter how much you trust me or how well you keep secrets."

Astrid sighed, shaking her head, "Fine." She then stood straight and started walking, "That's all I was looking for. Let's head to the main part of this little side quest."

In the safe room, Astrid contacted the others and told them where to find her, then stood back and waited. When they arrived, she told them she had found something interesting and walked over to the safe, bending down and touching the dial. A mechanized voice crackled out of the safe, "You will have ten seconds to enter the combination. If you go over either the time or the number of the combination, you fail. Start whenever you are ready."

She paused, thinking back to when she had done this in the game. 'What did Marcus say the combination was? …Gah, nine months can really do a number on the memory, can't it?' She sighed, leaning her head against the safe, "Marcus…"

'_Astrid._'

Her eyes snapped open and she didn't dare to breathe. That was his voice in her head. 'Marcus?'

'…_Right 36, Left 10, Right 59, Right 97._'

She frowned, looking at the dial before her, 'Why?'

'…_Just do it and get out of here._' Then his voice was gone.

Sighing, Astrid braced herself and flashed through the combination, entering it with two seconds to spare. She jumped back as the safe swung open quickly, rolling and grabbing the red materia that popped out just before the monster, Lost Number, fell from the ceiling and crashed before the safe, roaring loudly.

"_I am Odin, and I shall help you for this battle and any others you face._"

Sliding her sword out of its scabbard, Astrid shouted, "For now, use as many magic attacks as you can! When it changes colors, pound it!" And that was all she managed to get out before she was attacked.

The battle was hard, and Astrid used Shiva three times and Odin only one before neither of the summons would answer her call and she was forced to switch to healing and a few physical attacks. 'Can't use any magical attacks because I'm going to have to heal when it switches to mêlée.'

Then, when the battle finally switched to mêlée, Astrid began to receive the pounding of her life. 'Gaia…' She thought barely dodging another attack, 'Am I really this physically weak? …I have been using magic and Vincent's gun more often than my sword, and when I do use my sword, it's always pumped full of magic. And now that this guy isn't affected by magic, I'm suddenly the weakest in the group. …This is bad.' "Ahhh!" She screamed when Lost Number succeeded in hitting her, slamming her into a wall and pinning her there.

The others immediately began to attack the monsters arm, trying to get it to release her, but it just held her there, crushing all of the air out of her lungs. When she began to see spots and feel lightheaded, she thought wearily, 'Is this the end…?'

'_ASTRID!_'

She blinked slowly, her body going numb, 'Hey, Marcus. Listen, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you…'

'_Shut up!_' His voice shouted into her head, angry, '_Listen, I'm going to do something to help unlock your potential._'

Astrid frowned, her vision going fuzzy, 'My potential? What do you mean?'

'_Remember what I told you Master Sephiroth did for me? He released my potential. Well, you have it, too, and I'm going to release it for you._'

'Why?' She was no longer drawing in as much air as she should, 'I thought you wanted me to stop following you, so why are you helping me?'

His voice was growling when he answered, '_Only I am allowed to kill you, and I want our next encounter to be a little more entertaining than our last._' He paused, his voice fading when it returned, '_You'd better train yourself really well after I do this…_'

She was just beginning to black out when something clicked in her mind. There was a moment of nothing, then she was suddenly wide awake and full of energy, as well as very angry at the monster that had her pinned to a wall.

Grunting, she wormed her sword arm free and raised it high in the air, swinging her sword down heavily upon Lost Number's arm and slicing it clean to the bone. The monster let out an unearthly screech, dropping Astrid and clawing at its arm. Astrid gulped in air as she watched Lost Number stumble backwards and slam into a wall, staring at its arm with wild eyes.

Situating her feet underneath herself, Astrid grabbed the hilt of her sword with both hands and jumped forward, running a short distance before launching herself into the air. Just as she jumped, Lost Number held out its arm again and Astrid focused on that, her sword rising. When gravity kicked in again and Astrid started to fall, she swung her sword down, the blade hitting the same wound it had caused earlier and boring into the bone, slicing clean through and cutting off Lost Number's arm from the base of the elbow down.

The monster threw its head back and wailed, its remaining hand clutching its bloody stump tightly. Astrid sat on the ground beneath it and watched, panting and weak. The creature was about to stumble forward and squash her when Cloud jumped forward, burying his sword into the monster's chest.

As Lost Number teetered forward, the others pulled Astrid aside and watched it. Cloud yanked his sword out and joined them just as the monster crashed into the windows and tumbled through, falling from the second floor to the ground with an earthshaking crash.

"Well," Cait Sith said after a moment of silence, "That's one way to deal with a monster."

"Anybody care to tell me what that was about?" Cloud asked, crossing his arms and looking at Astrid pointedly.

She responded by jumping to her feet and running over to the safe, grabbing the large gold key that lay on the shelf. She looked back at Cloud and held it up, smiling sheepishly, "Eh he, this thing."

"Oooh!" Yuffie squealed, bounding forward and taking the key, "What's it to?! Treasure?! Mountains of gil?! Powerful materia?!"

"I don't know." Astrid replied, yanking the key out of the ninja's hands, "But we won't know until we find something to unlock. Now," She looked at the rest of the group, "Did anyone else find anything?"

They muttered incoherently, holding up a few items they had found in several boxes in the house.

Astrid quirked a brow, "That it?"

"Pretty much." Yuffie said, shoving the Hi-Potion she had found back in her pouch, "And this really creepy staircase behind a door disguised as a wall, but that wasn't anything special."

They started at her incredulously, not truly believing if she was serious or if she was really just that stupid.

Astrid broke the silence by asking, "Could you take us to it?"

Yuffie shrugged, "Sure, if you want to." When she led them to the room and showed them the moving wall and the staircase on the other side, that solved it for them. Yuffie really was stupid.

They made their way down the rickety staircase slowly and one by one, not wanting to crash through the rotted wood and smack into the stone floor some fifty feet below. At the bottom of the stairs, they all regrouped and walked down the tunnel. Their only light came from the weak glow of the lanterns that lined the walls, the running wires that connected them crackling and snapping wherever there were breaks in the lines.

Astrid eyed the lights warily, 'That means Sephiroth and Marcus are already down here, waiting in the library. Crap.'

Cloud must have been thinking the same thing, because he set his sights ahead and stormed passed the group angrily, forcing the rest to run after him. They were so focused on him, in fact, that they ran right past Vincent's door.

Astrid glanced at the door as she walked passed, murmuring, "We'll be back for you." When she reached the doorway to the library, she paused, thinking about what lay in wait on the other side. 'Marcus is there, probably waiting for me. …First, the clone told me I was invited to the reunion, then Marcus releases my 'potential' and I'm suddenly pumped full of adrenaline and cutting through monster bone… What's going to happen this time?' Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Astrid stepped through the doorway to face whatever she had to face.

"Hello, Astrid."

She opened her eyes and let out the breath she had held in a long 'woosh', nodding to who was waiting for her. "Marcus."

He was standing about six feet from her, his arms crossed and leaning against a bookshelf. He was the only other one in the room. He noticed her looking around and nodded his head back slightly, indicating to the other section of the library, "Master Sephiroth and your friends are in there having a little… chat. It'll only be you and me for the next few minutes, and don't worry," He smirked, "I don't plan on fighting you."

Astrid thought about this for a moment, clenching and unclenching her hands, "So… am I to assume that you and I are free to have our own little 'chat'?"

Marcus shrugged, a lock of hair falling into his face, "Feel free to ask or say whatever you want, though I won't necessarily respond."

"Fair enough." She nodded, relaxing her hands. She then stood straight, "What did you do to me?"

The corners of his mouth twitched, a smirk flashing across his face, "What do you think? How do you feel?"

Astrid breathed in sharply, looking down at her hands. How did she feel? "I feel… great." She closed her eyes and shook her head, "There's so much energy flowing through me; so much adrenalin. I feel like I'll never be tired again. And I feel…" She looked back up at him, "I feel powerful. Suddenly, this blade and this gun don't feel as heavy as they used to, and I know how to use my sword far better than I ever have."

Marcus nodded to everything she said, smiling when she was finished, "You described it so accurately. I'm impressed. It took me a while to be able to feel each of those individual changes, but every time I discovered a new one I felt so much more powerful." He paused, grin growing, "That's what it feels like to have your potential released."

"What is this 'potential' you keep talking about?" Astrid cut in, frowning.

Marcus sighed and shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure you're ready to learn about it. But, what I can tell you is this," He looked at her gravely, "You and I have a large amount of potential. Master Sephiroth said he would have taken you, as well, but you were too old to be fully released by him—"

"More like conditioned." She spat, scowling.

"But I was still young enough." Marcus continued, acting as if he hadn't heard her. "He will be able to have me trained in time for the reunion." He stopped talking, staring at her again. It didn't look like he was going to say anything else.

"Fine." Astrid nodded, "If that's all you'll tell me, fine. It's more than I expected, anyway." She was silent for a moment, then asked, "Why am I invited to the reunion?"

Marcus smiled, his eyes glinting, "It would be… unfair to not invite my sister to the biggest bash of all time." He leaned his head back, his eyes closing lazily, "I'd hate for my big sister to feel left out."

"Be serious, Marcus." Astrid growled, glaring at her little brother, "What is the real reason?"

"Huuuhhhh." Marcus sighed, rolling his head back and replying in monotone, as if reciting a verse, "Even if you are un-trainable by the Master, Jenova might still have a use for you." He stopped, slitting one eye open and grinning at her, "It's not as if you can't come to the reunion, anyway. That's where you and your friends will end up, whether you like it or not." He trailed off, opening his eyes and glancing over his shoulder.

At that moment, Sephiroth flew out of the second library and landed beside his student, grinning down the hall, presumably at Cloud, "Don't forget to come to the reunion…" He then rose back into the air, Marcus following his lead and hovering behind him. Sephiroth grinned down at Astrid as they flew over, giving her a mock mid-air bow, "I hope we can expect you there, as well, milady." And they disappeared down the tunnel.

Astrid was about to go to the rest of the group when Marcus's voice called back to her, echoing down the tunnel, "Oh, and Astrid? I do hope we get to talk some more soon, I am dying to know more about this 'Prologue' I keep hearing of. If you want to talk to me a bit before we're out of the area, meet me at the Nibel Reactor. Later!"

Astrid felt numb.


	24. Vincent Valentine and the Reactor

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Vincent Valentine and the Reactor)

The group watched Astrid worriedly as she took out the golden key and hurriedly slipped it into the lock on the door, fingers trembling the whole time. They waited for her to walk in before following, standing behind her for a few moments before Cloud walked passed her prone form and knocked on the coffin in the center of the room.

Astrid was still shaking as the exchange went on between Cloud and Vincent. 'Marcus knows about the Prologue… he _knows_. How could he know? I haven't even told Red about it! Is it bad that he knows? …I know that it's definitely not good, but how bad is it? If he got a hold of it, what could he do? If Sephiroth got a hold of it, what could he do?!' A cough woke her from her panicking and she looked up, finding herself looking right into the claret eyes of Vincent Valentine. She looked around and saw that they were the only two left in the room.

"I have already sent the rest of your party on their way." Vincent said, his voice deep and husky, like someone who had slept too long or hadn't talked in a long while. Then again, either of those applied to Vincent. "I suppose they assumed you were following them, but you were too deep in your thoughts to hear what was being said, so I'll repeat it for you: I do not plan on leaving this place." When she didn't reply and continued to stare at him, he blinked slowly, "They're probably waiting for you."

After staring at him for a moment longer, Astrid walked forward, unbuckling the outer belt around her waist. Vincent watched her questioningly, staying silent when she removed the belt from around her waist and threw it onto his lap, the silver of the gun gleaming red in the light.

"I found that a while back." Astrid said, staring at the gun, "I'm not really good at using guns, but I thought I'd hold on to it in case someone who could joined our group, and you're the first person I met who can use a gun expertly and doesn't want to kill me or stop me from reaching my objective." She looked up at him, shrugging, "I've held on to the thing since Kalm, and I've just recently had a boost in my swordsmanship, so there really isn't any need for me to have it anymore, seeing as I'm not going to be able to find anyone who'll be able to teach me to use it. You though…" She shrugged again, "Well… you keep it." She turned and walked out, feeling Vincent's eyes following her even as she shut the door.

Her right hip suddenly very light and naked of a weapon, Astrid walked a bit awkwardly, tilting and veering to the left. The group was waiting for her at the edge of the tunnel, Yuffie in a fight with Cait Sith about whether they should go back for her or not (Cait Sith said yes but Yuffie said to give her time), and then turned and looked at her as she stumbled towards them. Then, they looked passed her, shock written on their faces.

Astrid stumbled again and nearly fell when an arm shot out from behind her and pushed her upright, holding her there until she had her bearings. She turned around and looked up at Vincent, who nodded to her and the group. "If you're going after Sephiroth, then I shall accompany you. It would appear as though this incident is my fault, as well. I might also have the change to see Hojo again."

A few in the group cheered and some nodded, Astrid smiled up at him and nodded, "Welcome to the group."

He looked down at her and nodded back, "My name is Vincent Valentine. It is a pleasure to meet you Miss…"

"Cray." Astrid answered stepping away from him and spinning to face him, holding out her hand, "Astrid Cray."

Vincent took her hand and shook it, "Miss Cray."

Astrid smiled a moment longer, then her face fell and she turned back to the group and started walking, slipping passed all of them and heading up the stairs. She walked right outside of the Shinra mansion and waited for the others to get there, her arms crossed and her foot tapping rapidly.

"Astrid!" She looked up as they walked out of gate, Cloud frowning at her, "What's going on? Why are you acting so panicky?"

Astrid backed away a bit and chewed her lip, looking up in the general direction of the reactor. She then sighed and turned back, nodding, "Alright, I need to ask something of you guys. Something… big."

Aerith and Tifa exchanged glances, then walked forward and looked at her, Aerith slowly asking, "Astrid, what's wrong?"

She stuck her thumb into her mouth and chewed on it, saying past it, "Okay, when Sephiroth and Marcus left the mansion, Marcus made a reference to a very important… book of mine; a book he couldn't have known about unless one of two people told him about it, either me or Bugenhagen."

"Grandfather?!" Red barked, stepping forward.

Astrid nodded, "Yeah. And, seeing as I didn't tell him about it, all that's left for me to figure is Bugenhagen. Which has me concerned for Bugenhagen and the Book. If Marcus has it, then that means he went into Bugenhagen's library and took it."

"Does he have it?!" Red asked, panicking.

"I'm…" Astrid sighed and shook her head, "I'm not sure. Which is why I want to ask you guys to go back to Cosmo Canyon and check up on things. Make sure Bugenhagen's okay and that the Book is still there, and if it is get it and bring it back to me."

"What about you?!" Tifa exclaimed, eyes wide.

Astrid paused for a moment before answering, "Marcus… is waiting for me in the reactor. I'm going to meet him."

"No, you're not." Cloud said firmly, stepping forward and glaring at her, "If Marcus is there, so is Sephiroth. And if he's there, you'll be killed."

"No, I won't." Astrid shook her head, sighing, "Sephiroth… has already promised Marcus that my life is his, so Marcus is the only one of either of them who will try to kill me. Marcus said so, himself, and I have yet to see Sephiroth lay a hand on me, so I'm assuming it's true."

"It could be a trap!" Aerith exclaimed, running forward and grabbing Astrid by the shoulders, "They'll trick you and kill you, Astrid!"

"The only one I have to worry about is Marcus." Astrid insisted, looking the Centra right in the eyes, "And I don't have to worry about him as much as I used to. I'm stronger now… in more ways than you could imagine." She muttered the last part, looking away and pushing Aerith's hands back. Astrid then looked at Cloud determinedly, "You said that I could handle Marcus in any way I pleased, and right now this is how I want it to be done. I want some time alone with him."

Cloud looked at her stonily for a moment, then shook his head, "You're taking two people with you, no less than that. Whoever you don't pick will go with me back to Cosmo Canyon and we'll check on things and look for the Book." He shot her a look when she was about to protest, "Either two people or you don't go at all."

Frowning, Astrid grudgingly picked two people immediately, "Cait Sith and Vincent." She paused, then looked at them, "If neither of you mind, of course."

They both nodded and walked over to her, Cloud nodding approvingly, "Very well. Go to the reactor and meet Marcus, but no further. If Sephiroth shows up and wants to fight, run and call us. We should be back quickly." Cloud then turned and started running, the rest not far behind and Red XIII shooting passed him.

Astrid turned and nodded to the two, "Let's go. If Marcus does have the Book, then I don't want him to have it any longer than he is able to." She then ran up the path, the two following close behind.

"What's up with this book, anyway?" Cait Sith shouted, his moogle whirring as it went into top speed.

"It's really powerful and I think that he and I are the only ones who can use it!" Astrid shouted back, not slowing as the path narrowed, "And, of us two, I'd rather it be me that had it in my possession."

"What does it do?" Vincent called, his voice not even reaching a shout but still carrying loudly on the wind.

"No clue!" Astrid answered, turning sharply and jumping across a gap and back onto the path as it doubled back on itself.

They were silent for a while, and when they had to slow down to cross a perilously high bridge, Cait Sith asked, "If this book is such a big deal, then why didn't you tell the rest of us about it?"

Astrid shrugged, gripping the rope sides tightly and not looking at the gorge below, "I would have preferred it if Bugenhagen didn't know, either, but he was the one who had it, so I really had no choice. I'd have rather only him and me known about it, but now that Marcus knows I figured I'd need help."

"Why didn't you want us to know?" The cat went on, reaching out to steady itself against Astrid's coat as the bridge swayed.

She flinched, hissing through gritted teeth, "Don't _do_ that, Cait!" She then shuddered and kept walking, "To quote the words of an intelligent man, 'Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead'."

"Oh." The cat murmured, grabbing her back with both hands when the bridge swayed even more.

"CAIT!" Astrid screamed, pitching over to the side and grabbing the rope railing with both hands. She found herself looking down into the black depths of the gorge, sharp spires jutting up at her. Panicking, Astrid clamped down on the rope and froze, her feet planted rigidly in place.

"Astrid?" Cait Sith poked her on the shoulder, quirking his head when she didn't respond. "Astrid?"

She just stared downward stonily, eyes wide and teeth clenched tightly.

"Here." Vincent said, slipping past the cat and grabbing Astrid's shoulders. He leaned closer to her and said, "Miss Cray, we're already almost there. We need to keep moving in order to meet up with Marcus before the sun sets, when the more dangerous monsters come out." When she released her death grip of the rope, he nodded, turning her towards the other end of the bridge and pushing her slightly, "Just keep walking and don't look down. If you want, you can close your eyes and I'll guide you across." He then continued to push her across, Astrid taking one heavy step at a time and as slowly as she could.

When they reached the other side, Astrid sighed heavily and slumped against a rock, clutching it with her hands and breathing in and out deeply.

The man and the cat watched her for a few moments, Cait Sith breaking the silence by saying, "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

Astrid nodded shortly, still breathing heavily when she looked up and glared at them sharply, "No one knows of this, alright? I don't particularly like displaying my phobias for the world to know."

"Why?" Cait Sith asked, quirking his head, "We all have phobias of something. Heights is one of the more common ones, and there are probably a lot of people who could sympathize with you."

Frowning, Astrid shook her head and turned away, "Phobias are purely psychological, and therefore can be overcome. I can't very well overcome them if I have people coddling me at every turn. Sure, a little helpful push every now and then is okay…" She paused, looking at Vincent and blinking, "Pardon the pun." She then turned away again and continued, "But constant sympathy is not something I need. What I need is to overcome this on my own, so that I can keep myself psychically strong."

They followed her as she continued walking, Cait Sith watching her back closely, "You understand quite a bit about the human psyche."

Astrid turned back to him and grinned, flashing him the peace sign, "Five years of night school at a junior college studying psychology. One of the many electives I chose to bring myself closer to my goal."

"Ooooh! A career?" Cait Sith bounced up to her, looking up at her and grinning, "What did you want to be?"

"Eh, I wasn't entirely sure what job in particular, but I wanted to work in neurological science. Maybe a brain surgeon." She added with a smile, glancing down at the cat.

"A brain surgeon?!" Cait Sith exclaimed, aghast, "Why would you want to cut a persons head open?!"

Astrid looked ahead, grinning widely, "Hehe, brains."

The cat shook his head, falling back, "You're sick."

When they reached the reactor, Astrid stood in front of the stairs and froze, staring at the doorway. Marcus was in there, somewhere, as where the…

"Astrid?" She looked down at Cait Sith, who tilted his head, "You okay?"

"Fine." Astrid sighed. She then turned and looked at her company, crossing her arms, "I don't suppose you guys could wait out here, could you?"

Cait Sith and Vincent exchanged glances, the former crossing his arms, "I don't think Cloud would like that."

Astrid looked at her feet, scratching her cheek, "All I'm asking for is a bit of time alone with my little brother. Five minutes, at most. Then you guys can come in looking for me."

Cait Sith thought about this for a moment, then nodded, "Fine. Five minutes is all you get. Then Vincent and I are coming in."

"Thanks." She turned and started walking up the steps, stopping at the doorway and turning back, "Remember, five minutes after I make it through the door. Five, then you come in. Not a moment sooner."

"Yeah, yeah!" The cat waved to her, shooing her along, "Just get going!"

She stared at them for a few more moments, then turned and ran inside. She slid down the chain and bolted across the pipe bridge, through the second doorway and into the antechamber of Jenova's former prison.

There, at the top of the staircase, stood Marcus. "Astrid!" He spread his arms, smiling, "I am so glad you could come. I was worried that your group wouldn't let you."

"They almost didn't," Astrid admitted, chewing her lip.

Marcus smiled widely at her, "You're nervous, Astrid. Why, whatever could be the problem?"

She inhaled sharply, then shouted, "What do you know about the Prologue?!"

"What do I know about the Prologue?" Marcus chuckled, shaking his head, "I think we'd better assess what you know about the Prologue first, don't you?"

"Don't play coy with me, Marcus!" Astrid shouted, bristling, "I won't fall for that. That's just another way for you to weasel information out of me. You already know that I know some things, but how do I know that you know anything other than what it is called?!"

"Touché, Astrid." Marcus grinned, holding up his hands in mock defeat, "You do have me there, don't you? Very well, then, I'll tell you what I know." He took a deep breath, saying, "I know that the Prologue is the reason we're in Gaia." Seeing his sister's dumbfounded look, he chuckled, "Well, it looks as though that is something you didn't know, yourself. Well, it's true." Marcus nodded, face turning serious, "The Prologue is the reason we're in Gaia. When you wrote it, and yes, I know it was you, you somehow accessed something… almost magical, but more factual than anything."

"What are you talking about?" Astrid asked, frowning.

Marcus shook his head and sighed, "Come on, Astrid, you know about this better than I do. You know that we humans access roughly only ten percent of their mental capacity, and that there are areas of our brains we humans never even use. You also know that, every now and then, someone is born with an odd mutation that allows them to access one or even more of the hidden parts of their brain. This," He pointed to her, "Is what Master Sephiroth theorizes happened to you. This is one of the many untapped potentials you and I have."

Astrid frowned, shaking her head, "If he needs a human, why couldn't he just have used one of the humans from here?! Why you?"

"Because the humans here are already tainted." Marcus explained patiently, crossing his arms, "The humans in Gaia are quite similar to the humans from Earth, but there is one major difference; the presence of mako." He paused, letting it sink in, then continued, "Mako is what allows these people to do things that would be considered impossible back home, like using magic, utilizing materia, surviving impossible surgeries to have weapons implanted onto the physical body, even using weapons the way these people use them! Think about it, Astrid! Before you underwent mako poisoning, were you able to us a sword half as good as you did afterwards?!"

"I…" Astrid took a step backwards, shaking her head, "I don't know…"

"Were you ever able to use magic?!"

She frowned, "I never tried…"

"Did you react to Hojo's experiments better before or after mako poisoning?"

Astrid blinked, "After, I suppose…"

"And were you able to heal nearly as fast before mako?!"

Sighing, Astrid shook her head, "No. No I was not."

"You see?!" Marcus shouted, face still serious, "These people don't have the potential we do because most of their potential has already been wasted on adapting to mako over time. You and I, on the other hand, were born in a world where there is no mako. We have so much our bodies can learn, Astrid, and we have the capacity to hold so much! Because you and I were introduced to mako so quickly, we have plenty of room to adjust to even more! We're blank slates, Astrid, and there is so much available to us here, and really, in any other world! You proved this when you wrote the Prologue and summoned Jenova to our world, and you proved it again when you both adapted to mako and started to use materia!"

"If that's true," Astrid said, horror dawning on her face, "Then the others back home…

"Are just as blank as us." Marcus finished, smiling. "That's why the Master chose you and I, Astrid. You may have summoned him to our world by sheer accident, but he saved us from that fire and brought us here because of you. He picked us because you can bring others here, because you can take others to other worlds."

"Other worlds…" Astrid repeated slowly, eyes widening.

"Your powers can take Jenova to other worlds, and in those other words our powers can be advanced." Marcus said softly, stepping towards Astrid. When he reached the last step, he held out his hand, "Astrid, come with me. Together, we can do great things. Together, we could rule worlds."

Astrid looked up at him, her eyes wide and terrified. She took a shaky step back and muttered, "No."

Marcus's eyes flashed and he scowled, his hand dropping, "Then I'll just have to go with the original plan and kill you." In a flash, he had his gun out and pointed at Astrid's face, "Goodbye, Astrid."

"Goodbye, Marcus."

There was a bang and crack as a gun shot and the sound slapped the walls of the room, followed by the sickening sound of flesh and blood being torn and falling to the ground with a squelch.

Astrid watched with wide eyes as Marcus fell, a gaping hole blown in his side.

There was a flash of red to her right as Vincent walked up beside her, his gun held out and pointed down at the boy, finger taunt on the trigger. Vincent's red eyes flashed as he glared down at Marcus, "You've made quite a large mistake, boy." He pulled the trigger.

"Vincent, don't!" Astrid screamed, jumping forward and crashed into him, sending them both reeling and falling to the ground. Vincent's gun fired, but the trajectory was thrown off and the shot hit a pipe, pressurized steam shooting out of the hole and whining loudly.

Astrid and Vincent both looked over to where Marcus had been and found nothing but a puddle of blood remaining. He had escaped.

Astrid let out a sigh of relief, then looked back to Vincent and froze, and it wasn't because she was basically laying on top of him, either. It was because Vincent was glaring at her with those red eyes of his, his pupils narrowed to pinpoints and his crimson irises flashing. Vincent was ticked.

"I—" Astrid was cut off when a sudden pain stabbed at every point of her body. It was so abrupt it knocked the breath right out of her, knocking her over so she landed on Vincent's chest. She felt her body begin to seize up and her muscles stiffen, her fingers twitching and her legs shuddering violently.

"Miss Cray?" Suddenly, she was pulled into the air by her shoulders, Vincent holding her and making her face him so he could look at her. "Miss Cray?!"

She tried to answer, but her throat was strangled and her head lolled forward, an odd gurgling sound issuing from her mouth.

"Miss Cray!"

Then, she was lying on her back and staring at the ceiling, her lids stuck so her eyes were gazing wide open. When Vincent knelt over her, her muscles seized again and her back arched, her toes curling in and her hands jerking to convoluted forms against her chest. Her breath hitched in her chest and her lungs shuddered over and over, strangled gasps scratching her throat. Then it felt like something heavy slammed into her head and her vision went black, her senses aware of nothing but pain and convulsions.

"ASTRID!"

Her last coherent thought was her location and the most probable cause of her attack. 'Nibel Reactor… uncontrolled mako… poisoning…'

* * *

Marcus hovered above the Reactor, watching stoically as the party rushed to get his comatose sister as far away from the location of the uncontrolled mako as quickly as possible. He scowled. 'How could they have forgotten her susceptibility to mako so quickly? …Hmm, probably too busy thinking of that book and that old man.' He chuckled darkly, 'Too bad they wasted their time. I didn't even have to go to Cosmo Canyon to know about the Prologue.'

"Enjoying your dark irony, Marcus?"

He looked up and nodded to Sephiroth, who was hovering near the remains of a transport vortex. "Yes, Master, I am. All this time of having those 'dreams' of me, and Astrid still hasn't figured out that we're mentally linked. She'll probably figure it out, though, when she realizes that I was the one protecting her from the mako poisoning up until the time I left the reactor."

Sephiroth said nothing as he watched the people below, running as quickly as they could. The large man, Barret, was carrying Astrid near the head, only Cloud in front to keep him covered. "You tried to get her to join us." The silver-haired specter said after a moment. "How did it turn out?"

Marcus stared down at the reactor below blankly, knowing exactly why Sephiroth had bothered to ask that question. "They have the Book."

Sephiroth nodded, turning to watch the party exit the mountains and begin running across the short distance from the Nibel area to Rocket Town. "We'll need to get it from them eventually if you're going to learn how to 'phantasmagoria illustrate'."

"I know." Marcus answered, turning in the direction of the party only when they had rounded the mountain and disappeared from view. "…I think I'll let her bring it to us."

Sephiroth nodded again, an eerie smirk crossing his face, "More dark irony, eh?"

Marcus turned to his master and smiled widely, "The best kind there is."


	25. Rocket Town

Question: Am I the only one who has the song 'Rocket Man' start playing in their head when they think about Rocket Town?

…Yeah, my braid does that. Anyway…

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Rocket Town)

_She was standing in the middle of a field of water, ripples at her ankles. Everything was white, the air was still and the water had no temperature, but she could still feel. She could feel the water tickle her skin as she moved slightly, sending small waves spreading out from underneath her and carrying off into the distance, black outlines rising and falling out forever until they faded to white._

_She raised her hands and looked at them, flexing and twisting them, watching her black outline move as she willed it. Like her surroundings, she was white. Her only dimensions lay in her thin black outline, looking as if it had been drawn by a pencil or a lightly inked pen._

_Then she felt the water change and she looked down. Black was spreading out from her feet, tainting the water around her. She began to sink, slowly, into the water, the black around her growing the deeper she sunk. Her outline was washing away._

_When it got to her head, she tried to hold her breath, but found that there was no air. She sank into the water and spread out, nothing more than a giant black spot in a sea of white. Then she began to dissolve, turning from black to grey, and from grey to a light ash. Then she was white. Then she was gone._

Astrid's eyes snapped open and she breathed in deeply though her mouth, gasping air into her lungs. She went too quickly, though, and the air scratched her already raw throat, making her sit upright and cough, wincing at every one.

"Here, drink this."

A hand suddenly appeared in front of her, offering her a glass of water. She took it and gulped it down, sighing into the water when the itch in her throat went away and the raw flesh was cooled. Then, the water was taken from her hand and someone sat in front of her, looking at her meaningfully.

"That was too close, Astrid." Aerith said, hr face grave, "We almost couldn't bring you back. We all had to use 'Cure2' and 'Thunder' on you several times, and the doctor wanted us to back off and let you go." She let that sink in, but when Astrid didn't even offer a facial reaction Aerith scowled, "Do you have a death wish? Are you tired of living? Because it seems like every decision you make concerning Marcus leads to you nearly killing yourself, and I can't help but wonder if it isn't intentional."

Astrid looked away from the angry Centra and looked around the room. Everyone was there, and they were all glaring at her, except for Cait Sith, Vincent, and Yuffie, who weren't sure how to react.

"Astrid, answer me." Aerith snapped, grabbing Astrid's chin and turning her head back to face her, "Why do you keep doing this?"

Blinking vapidly, Astrid pulled away from Aerith and swung her feet off of the bed, standing. She swayed for a moment, but recovered quickly, walking across the room to where corner where the party's belongings were stashed. Something was pulling her there. She dug through the bags and pulled out the Book, running her hands over the cover. So… Marcus hadn't taken it.

"Astrid!"

Spinning around, Astrid watched Aerith as the woman jumped to her feet and glared at her with passion and concern, tears forming in the woman's eyes. Astrid shook her head and sighed.

"I never wanted any of this."

Aerith blinked, frowning, "What?"

"From the very beginning." Astrid looked up at Aerith, face blank, "I never wanted any of this. All my life, I thought all I wanted was to live a normal life, go off to college, and settle down in some damned mediocre town and live a damned mediocre life like everyone else I knew." She clenched the Book tightly, still looking at Aerith, "I never wanted a grand fantasy. I never dreamed of going to another world and being anybody different from the person I was. So why me?

"Why did I, of everyone else in my pathetic little world, get chosen to come to this place and take part in a journey I'm not ready for? Why was I chosen to travel across continents to reach a goal that I have no real interest in, other than my brother? Why couldn't it have been one of those people who spend their lives dreaming of going to a fantasy world? Why, in a world full of dreamers, was the pragmatist chosen for this damned journey?"

For a moment, no one answered her. Then Vincent stepped forward, saying in a voice Astrid was beginning to suspect was perpetually husky, "Because pragmatists are the best ones for journeys of fantasy. Dreamers would spend their time trying to make things perfect, trying to make themselves stand out in a story that was already standing out on its own. Pragmatists… adapt only for the time being, imagining only the goal rather than seeking personal side quests, knowing it all could end at any time."

Astrid stared at him for a moment, then said, "Being a pragmatist sucks. People expect too much of us."

Vincent chuckled once, shaking his head, "Correct."

The room fell silent again.

"Uhh…" Everyone looked at Yuffie, who was scratching the back of her head, "What did you mean by… you being from another world?"

Astrid sighed, holding the Book with one hand and running the other through her hair, "That's the story of another place and time, back before I was disillusioned and shoved into the world of cruel, fantastical reality. Something completely irrelevant to your own lives and something you will probably never hear me mention again. Now," She looked around the room, blinking confusedly, "Where are we?"

"Rocket Town." Cloud answered immediately, apparently picking up on her want to change the subject. "An isolated settlement in the Rocket Launch Pad Area. Used to be the major base of Shin-Ra's space exploration division, but was abandoned after an accident with the launching of the last rocket."

"Ah." Astrid answered shortly, blinking. "And how long was I comatose?"

"Three days." Cloud answered again, "Though the doctor thought you might have stayed that way a lot longer, if you ever did recover."

"Ah, the wonderful advantages of exposure to mako." Astrid grinned cynically, shaking her head. "I'll have to remember to thank Hojo later." She sighed, "So, now that I'm done recovering, what next?"

"No clue." Barret said, crossing his arms and frowning, "We've pretty much reached the end of the line. There're no ships in this area, and we've searched this continent dry. The next area we might head would be the Wutai Area, but we ain't got no way to get over there… unless we want to build a raft."

Astrid frowned, "There's no way to get anywhere else from here?"

"Well, there is a plane, the _Tiny Bronco_," Tifa said, scratching her arm, "But the owner isn't too keen on letting anyone use it. So, unless there's a miracle, we're stuck here for a while."

"I see…" Astrid blinked, then looked down at herself. She was in a different pair of clothes than she had been in back in Nibelheim, but she figured she'd been wearing this pair since they had gotten into town. "I'm gonna go look around town." Taking her bag and walking into the bathroom, she pulled on a fresh pair of pants and a sweater, then strapped her sword to her hip. 'Still feels a bit awkward not having the gun, but I'm getting used to it.'

She walked out a moment later to find that only Yuffie and Barret had left the room. Everyone else was either napping or sitting and staring off into space. Pulling on her boots, Astrid walked out of the room and down the stairs, heading out of the inn and into the town.

Rocket Town was a sleepy, quiet place, which was probably derived from the fact that the town hadn't seen much action since the rocket incident that had occurred roughly… ten years ago, wasn't it? And all of these people were still here, keeping things in working order for the day that Shin-Ra came back to them. It was kinda… sad.

She walked through the town and headed straight for the rocket, the mammoth needle aiming for the sky at an angle. The metal scaffolding was rusted and green from the ocean mist, but someone had been working hard to try to keep the shuttle in working order; its green was two shades lighter than the green of the support towers.

Walking to the top of one of the ladders, Astrid sat down and stuck her legs through the railing, leaning back and looking up at the ship. The bars were uncomfortable against her back and the metal underneath her butt was cold, but she didn't care, she was too busy thinking. 'Hmm… if Palmer heads the Space Exploration department, and they haven't been doing much for the past ten years, was he really getting paid to basically act as the president's lapdog/jester?'

"Hey, you!" She sat up and looked around, eyes landing on someone waving at her from the footpath that lead to the entrance to the rocket, "Yeah, you! Come over here for a minute! I need a bit of help!"

Too bored and lost in meaningless thoughts to argue, Astrid walked over to the ladder and climbed, finding that the person who had called her over had already headed back into the rocket. She walked through the sliding door and looked around. 'Now where…'

"Down here!"

She looked down at her feet and found another ladder. After climbing down that, she looked up and down the room. It was a short hall lined with giant cylinders on both sides. Underneath one of the cylinders, someone was lying on their back and clanking around with some tools, only his thick work jeans and boots visible.

"There's a panel on this air tank I'm workin' on." The man's muffled voice grunted, his hand reaching out to grope for a screwdriver before it disappeared again and the clanking resumed, "Just look at it and tell me if anything turns red."

Astrid got closer to the cylinder and stood on her tiptoes, looking at the only panel on the front. There was a black and blue digital grid work on it with a green line running across, spiking like a seismograph.

"It should turn red… now."

But nothing happened on the screen.

"Nope." Astrid said, taking a step back, "Nothing changed."

"Damn!" Astrid jumped back as the man pulled himself out from underneath the cylinder, jumping to his feet and glaring at the panel, "Damn Shera! Why the hell does she keep insisting something's wrong with this &# thing?! It's functioning normally!"

Astrid stared at the back of the man's blonde head with wide eyes, recognizing his clothes and distinctive use of foul language. "Cid Highwind…"

"Eh?" Cid turned around and looked right above Astrid, then blinked and looked down at her. He frowned, "You ain't one of my workers!"

Astrid blinked, then looked at her hands. After a few moments, she looked back up and shrugged, "Nope. Guess I'm not."

Cid's eye twitched and he looked like he wanted to smack her, "Damned uppity brat…" He then glared at her and bellowed, "You're too damned short and too damned young to be down here! It's dangerous! What the hell are you doing?!"

She shrugged calmly, "Helping you, like you asked."

He twitched again and turned away from her, punching the cylinder, "!)(# bratty teens!" He then turned back to her, pointing to the ladder, "Get the hell out of here!"

Astrid blinked. 'This guy is funny.' "Why?"

"Because!" Cid bellowed, his face turning red, "This is my ship and I make the (# rules around here! Now GET OUT!"

Astrid clicked her heels together and saluted, "Aye, aye, _mon capitaine_!" She then turned and started to march out of the ladder, Cid swearing behind her the whole time. At the top of the ladder, she smiled back down at the room, 'Yeah, traveling with him is going to be oodles of fun!'

When she was back on the ground and the rocket was too her back, Astrid wandered into the forest, admiring the trees as the sun set and turned the sky red, then purple. She then plopped down on the grass and laid back, staring at the sky as it began to turn starry. She sighed peacefully. 'Okay, this place definitely ranks up with Cosmo Canyon on my 'places I would live if I were to live in Gaia' list. Hmm… maybe one spot above it…'

"You shouldn't stay out late."

"Aahh!" Astrid screamed, whirling around while reaching into her pocket and pulling out a random materia. She blinked at who she saw, "Vincent?"

He stepped out of the shadows, looking down at her, "Cloud and the others are out searching for you. Aerith was afraid that you had left in search of Marcus."

"Damn it." Astrid muttered, taking out her PHS and dialing Aerith's number. "Hey, Aerith? It's Astrid. …Yeah. …Yeah, I'm fine, sorry. …Yeah, Vincent found me. …I'm still in town. …Near the rocket. …Yeah. …Okay. …Don't worry, I won't. …Mmhmm, yeah. …See ya later. Bye." She closed the device and shoved it back into her pocket, sighing and throwing a smile at Vincent, "Thanks for that. They've had too much reason to worry about me lately, so there's no telling what Aerith would have done if she had honestly thought I had left town."

Vincent nodded silently, watching her as she lay back down on the grass. After a moment, he said, "Am I to understand that situations like the one back at the Nibel Reactor happen often with you?"

"Yeah, unfortunately." Astrid answered, crossing her arms behind her head. "I'm super susceptible to mako poisoning, so being around reactors like that can kill me if I hang around too long. All in a days work, though, when you're still a work-in-progress of the infamous Professor Hojo." She flinched slightly, wondering if she should have said that.

"…Hojo." Vincent replied after a moment, staring down at her pityingly, "To be one of his experiments at such a young age…"

"Egh." Astrid waved her hand at him disarmingly, tilting her head back so she could see him, "It's not as bad as it was. Back when I was still in the Shin-Ra building, it was really bad. Being like this," She stretched her back and closed her eyes, "Is a blessing compared to that experience, even with the bad reactions to mako still being considered."

He was silent for a moment, then said, "You said that you're still… a work-in-progress?"

"Yep." She answered, yawning, "Hojo's not working with Shin-Ra anymore, so he's wandering Gaia right now, probably looking for Sephiroth. The last I saw of him was in Costa del Sol, but he'll probably pop back up again to check up on me. He said I'm still 'in the process of being analyzed'. A 'real world' experiment, I guess."

"I see…"

They were silent for several moments, and above them the sky was black, white stars twinkling and a silver moon peeking over the trees. When the moon was nearly overhead, Astrid sighed and stood, looking over to where Vincent had been standing. He was still there.

"I'm heading back." She said, brushing her back off, "Are you going to stay out a bit longer, or…"

"I'll be walking back with you." Vincent answered, stepping back into the shadows. When she walked up beside him, he turned and started walking with her.

"So…" Astrid said after a moment, "Does Gaia seem any different to you?"

Vincent sounded a bit confused when he asked, "What?"

She shrugged, "Well, you were in that coffin for the better part of, what, thirty years? Have you noticed any changes about Gaia?"

He was silent for a moment, then answered, "It's less green than it used to be."

Astrid nodded slowly, "I can see that. Mako reactors have probably increased their production quite a bit, and now that Rufus is in charge it'll probably increase even more."

"Rufus?" His voice carried a hint of a frown.

"The former president's son." Astrid said, ducking under a branch, "Sephiroth killed the late President Shinra a few months ago and Rufus took over the night he died. So far, Rufus has proven to be more of a tyrant than his father was."

"I see." They were silent again, then Vincent asked, "That boy, Marcus… is he really your brother?"

"Yeah." Astrid answered, blinking. 'Vincent sure is inquisitive tonight. …Maybe he's just trying to get caught up with the current events.' "Sephiroth kidnapped him about ten months ago and kind of… took him under his wing. Marcus has changed quite a bit since then."

"And you're trying to get him back?"

"That's what it started off as, yes." She nodded, glancing over at him, "But things have… changed. Marcus has told me a few disturbing things, and I think he means to kill me the next time we meet. On top of that, he has some kind of mental link with me, and he's using it to his advantage. I'm not sure what I'm doing, now."

"Mental link?" Vincent looked over at her, frowning.

Astrid nodded, "The only way I could have stepped into that reactor and held out against the side affects of the mako for as long as I did would have to be if someone prevented me from feeling the pain. Sephiroth wasn't anywhere nearby, I don't think, so that leaves Marcus. It would also explain a few other phenomena that have happened since I started this journey; oddly realistic nightmares, visit's from Marcus when I least expect it, odd transformations my body has been undergoing, being able to hear Marcus talking to me telepathically… it all points to Marcus having a link to my mind."

Vincent gave her a thoughtful look, "Have you told anyone?"

"Nope." She answered lightly, jumping over a large root, "I was just thinking about it when you came. Then, I thought about it some more before I came to my conclusion and decided to head back in. I'm not sure I'll tell any of the others, either."

"Why not?"

She shrugged, "I don't want them spending too much time thinking about my issues and loosing sight in battle or something. You, on the other hand," She shot a look at him, "I trust to keep a cool head at all times." She paused, looking away. "Vincent, I know we haven't known each other very long, but can I ask something of you?"

He gave her a long, hard calculating look before asking, "What?"

She stopped walking and bit her lip, looking up at him when he turned to stare at her, "If I… if I happen to start acing odd… like someone else might be controlling me… If you suspect, for even a moment, that Marcus might be controlling me, could you… subdue me in any way you feel necessary. I would ask one of the others!" She shouted quickly when he raised his eyebrows in astonishment, "But you're the only one I trust to have good judgment in this matter!"

Vincent stared at her for a moment longer before giving her a barely perceptible nod.

Astrid let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Vincent." They then started walking again.

At the edge of town, just between the rocket launch pad at the walkway onto the main road, Vincent stopped her and held something out to her. It was the silver revolver, holster and all.

"You're going to need this more than I will." Vincent said, eyeing her sword. "There aren't many longswords available for public sale these days, so it's best you have a backup weapon. I'll teach you how to use and…" He frowned at something near the muzzle of the gun, "Care for it."

Blinking, Astrid took the belt and looked at the gun. There was a bit of dried blood caked along the sight where she had split open the chin of that man back at Gold Saucer.

"Hehe." Astrid laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. She then strapped the belt to her waist, smiling at Vincent, "Thanks."

"Hmm." He turned and started walking, Astrid trailing not far behind.


	26. ShinRa Comes to Rocket Town

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Shin-Ra Comes to Rocket Town)

The first few days went by at a slow pace, but the party took their time relaxing and enjoying the break. Other than small excursions out into the wild to keep themselves alert and the training sessions Vincent put Astrid though so she could learn to use her gun (she could finally call it 'hers'), they stuck close to town and wandered around, getting to know the residents and keeping an eye out for Sephiroth and Marcus. After two weeks, though, they were all becoming bored.

In order to compensate for the long break from the journey, Vincent had Astrid out every day from seven in the morning to five in the afternoon, running her though serious and rigorous training courses, both in physical and mental strengthening as well as training her in both gunmanship and swordsmanship.

"You have been using a longsword in battle for the past four months, but you were trained to use a rapier?" Vincent growled, his eyes narrowing, "That is unacceptable."

Astrid had no clue why Vincent was making such a big deal out of her fighting abilities, but when it turned out he was better at her with a sword (and when he was wielding the sword with his right hand), she decided to just give in and let him retrain her completely.

At first, all he had her doing was running, performing pushups and curls, and meditating. Then, things started to get tougher. He tied weights to her arms and legs, forcing her to wear them even when she wasn't training. He even had her fight him with the weights on.

He took away her longsword and gun and gave her a thick wooden stick and a slingshot. When he had given her that, she looked at it with a raised brow, "You have got to be kidding."

Vincent scowled, growling, "If you can learn to aim properly with a slingshot, the most misaligned of projectile weapons, then you will never have problems aiming with a gun."

Astrid had her doubts about this, but when he made her run ten miles for voicing her opinion, she stuck to complaining to herself.

Then, one day, after the second solid week of training, Astrid woke up at five in the morning and slipped out of the hotel room, making a break for the forest beyond the rocket when she was out the front door.

She ran farther and farther into the forest, passing the place where she had gone to the first night and still running. When she reached the other side of the forest, she fell onto the wet grass, panting but smiling. 'Ha. Let's see that psycho find me out here; this is completely in the opposite direction of where he usually trains me.'

When she had stopped panting and her heart had stopped hammering in her ribcage, she sat up and started removing the weights, rubbing her sore muscles underneath. Free of the weights, she then turned to her sword, which she had grabbed as she was walking out the door.

She cradled the weapon like a child, stroking the scabbard, "I'd never thought I'd seriously miss you until I had to start training with that wooden pole. Do you have any idea how hard it is to kill beasts when you don't have a sharp edge?! And all Vincent would do was sit back with his gun strapped to his hip and shout out orders. The meanie."

After sitting around for a few hours staring at the sky and watching the grass grow, Astrid crawled under a large shade tree and curled up on a patch of moss, smiling at her chosen hiding place.

The main branches of the tree only rose a few feet before they spread out, clawing at the air for a good ten foot diameter around the stump. The leaves were nice and thick, and at the outermost rim they skimmed the ground. As long as she didn't move, Vincent would never find her.

Keeping this in mind, Astrid pulled her coat closer to herself and relaxed her body a bit, falling into a light sleep.

She didn't get much shuteye before she was woken by the sound of roaring overhead. She crawled on her stomach over to the edge of the tree, peeking out from underneath the leaves and looking up at the sky in horror. Shin-Ra helicopters had arrived.

"Shit."

Even as more helicopters were passing, she jumped out from underneath the tree and started running, her sheathed sword clenched in her teeth and her hand digging in her pocket for her PHS. Pulling out the mobile, she took her sword from her teeth and began punching in Cloud's number.

It ran for a few minutes, then a recorded message came on. "_This is Cloud. I'm unable to reach my PHS at this time, so leave a message and I'll get back to you._" Beep

"Cloud!" Astrid shouted, ducking under a branch without breaking her run, "It's Astrid! Cloud, Shin-Ra is on it's way to Rocket Town right now! I'm on my way back, but get yourselves hidden or out of town! I'll find you all eventually! Later." She punched the off button and jammed her mobile back into her pocket, using both of her hands to buckle her sword around her waist.

'This isn't good. If Rufus sees us… I gotta find the others.'

When the rocket was in view, she circled around the town and crept in behind one of the houses, keeping hidden in the shadows. She peeked out from behind a bush, looking around the town. 'A pair of soldiers at every small road and a group of six at the main entrance… way too many for me to handle. And it looks like the others are already hidden. …I wonder.' Crawling back into the bushes, she slinked around to the back of the in and slipped in through the back door, running up the stairs as quietly as she could.

Upon entering their room, she found that the others had already cleared out. On her bed, though, she found a small bundle. She unwrapped it and found her gun and several materia and items inside, as well as a note.

_We'll be heading to Wutai next. If you do not find us before we escape town, find a way to get there. I believe you may be able to use one of the materia for that, though you will have to think carefully about which one and where to use it. Keep alert and stick to your training regimen; I expect to see improvements when we meet again._

_Vincent Valentine_

'Damn.' Astrid scowled, 'Even his handwriting is better than mine, and he's male!' She gathered all of the materia and strapped on the gun holster, shoving the note into her pocket.

Back outside of the inn, Astrid saw that all of the guards had disappeared. On the other side of Shera's house, though, she heard the sounds of battle. 'They're fighting Palmer!' Abandoning subterfuge, she ran across the square and into the house.

"Don't move!"

Astrid pulled to a screeching stop and held up her hands, the muzzle of a shotgun pressed to the back of her head. "Shera," She began slowly, not moving, "It's me. Astrid. The others are in the back fighting Shin-Ra right now, and I'm here to help them."

"Oh, Astrid!" Shera sobbed. The gun fell away and Astrid spun around, pulling the hysterical woman into a comforting hug.

"It's alright, Shera." Astrid said, rubbing the woman's back, "I promise that Cid will be fine. I have to go, now." She pulled away, running to the back door. She heard Shera shout out a "Good luck" before the door slammed.

Outside, the others were trying to get the _Tiny Bronco_ off of the ground, but they were impeded by the heavy fire of the Shin-Ra soldiers. Looking closely at the airplane, Astrid saw that it was already heavily loaded. There was no way she'd be able to get on and have the plane still fly. 'Looks like I'll be playing the part of the distraction.'

"Ahhhh!" She screamed loudly and pulled out her sword, running into the mass of soldiers and swinging it wildly.

Though she did hit and even kill a few soldiers, she was really aiming to draw attention to herself, and it was working. Seeing several of their comrades falling either injured or dead, the rest of the gunmen turned on her and started concentrating their fire on her. She managed to dodge a majority of them and even managed to block the rest with her sword.

'Wow, Vincent did a good job…'

When one of the bullets actually managed to graze her shoulder, though, she immediately turned to the gunman, figuring he was the greatest threat at the time. The person she had turned to face was Rufus Shinra.

"Hey, Astrid." He grinned, firing another shot at her and skimming her arm, "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey, Rufus." She answered in like, deflecting the next shot that came at her with her sword, "You're looking good. Having fun with your job, I take it?"

"Well," Rufus began, ducking beneath her blade and hitting her in the stomach with the butt of his gun, knocking her back a few steps, "It is a bit demanding, leading a company and a larger part of the world." He grunted when she tripped him, then smirked at her when he tripped her back, "But it does have its," His smirk widened when his next bullet grazed her temple, "Benefits."

"I can imagine." Astrid hissed through clenched teeth, lunging out with a foot and hitting the man squarely in the jaw. She then stood, grinning as the _Tiny Bronco_ rose into the air and took off, skimming the tops of the trees before disappearing from sight. She glanced over at Rufus with a triumphant smirk, "Looks like they got away…"

He scowled, glaring at her, "But you didn't." He then snapped his fingers, "Seize her."

Astrid didn't fight back when she was grabbed by the wrists and her arms were twisted behind her back where they were promptly cuffed, choosing instead to cooperate. 'Less likely to get hurt that way. Besides,' She smiled in the direction the plane had gone, 'They have the Book, so everything is safe.'

After she had been disarmed and thoroughly bound, she was turned to face her captors, smiling genuinely at who she saw, "Hey, you guys. 'Sup?"

Rude nodded, "Hello, Astrid."

Tseng shook his head, "You've really done it now, Astrid." But he couldn't hold back a smile.

"Looks like you've been doing well for yourself, kid." Reno commented, grinning and throwing an arm over her shoulders, "I haven't seen you skin that healthy since… well… hell, ever. Even back when I first met you, you were still pretty pale."

"Not now, though." Astrid countered, letting them lead her to a helicopter, "When you're traveling the world and sleeping outside half of the time, you can't help but get a bit of a tan."

"You're still against us, though." Elena commented as she began to search Astrid's pockets for any materia or items.

"Afraid that's the way it's got to be Elena." Astrid said, sitting back calmly as her materia was pulled out. "As long as Shin-Ra is after Sephiroth, my brother is in danger, and no amount of friendship can stop me from stopping you."

Elena sighed and turned away, organizing Astrid's items in a large box with a lock on it. When she turned, her arm brushed up against Astrid's and knocked a paper out of her sleeve and onto the floor of the helicopter. Astrid started to panic when she saw it.

'Vincent's note… if they see that, then they'll go after them.' She tried to make a move to cover the note, but a hand grabbed it before she could reach. Astrid looked up in horror as the hand lifted the note to the face of its owner, and Reno read the note.

He looked at it curiously at first, then in shock, and finally his face went blank. Reno's eyes read the note several times before he folded it neatly and stuck it in his suit pocket, lifting his eyes to stare at her wordlessly.

Astrid was sweating bullets. Would Reno hand the note over to Tseng? or worse, Rufus? If he didn't, would Reno tell anyone else? Or would he ignore it?

When the combined voices of Tseng and Rufus were heard, gradually growing louder as the men drew nearer, Astrid looked at Reno desperately, her eye wide and pleading. He just looked at her with an expressionless face, then stood back as Rufus and Tseng climbed into the helicopter, taking their seats. Rude and Elena followed, and Reno stepped in last, grabbing Astrid under her armpits and hoisting her into a seat.

As he was buckling her in, he leaned in a bit and whispered, "Don't worry." He then backed away and sat in his own seat, pulling the safety belt over his chest.

Astrid let out a mental sigh of relief. So, Reno wasn't planning on doing anything. He was going to keep quiet and probably dispose of the letter later. The party was safe.

The helicopter blades whirred loudly and the whole machine jolted, shuddering for a moment before it stabilized and continued to lift into the air. Once everything was smooth, Astrid sighed loudly and leaned back as much as she could in her seat, crossing her legs, "So, where to?"

"A bit presumptuous for a prisoner, aren't you?" Rufus asked, his brow quirked.

Astrid shrugged casually, "Getting better treatment than most prisoners, aren't I?"

Rufus scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he answered nevertheless. "First to Midgar." He said, crossing his arms and staring out his window, "Then to Junon."

"And I take it I'll be accompanying as a prisoner on both rides, then?" Astrid asked, sighing.

"Essentially," The young president answered, "Though you won't be nearly as uncomfortable as most prisoners." He glanced at her, smirking, "We like you too much for that."

"Aw, I'm touched." Astrid cooed, rolling her eyes, "So, what do you want from me? Information or character battle stats?"

"Actually," Tseng cut in, pulling something colorful and glossy out of his pocket, "We'd like to know about this." He leaned across the floor and held out the glossy thing, which turned out to be a picture. It was a close-up of the Book, which was clearly being held in Aerith's arms. They must have taken it during the attack back in Rocket Town.

Astrid leaned back, closing her eyes, "I know nothing of that."

"I don't buy that, Astrid." Rufus said, his eyes glinting, "From what I've noticed, there are few things you don't know about Gaia. I get the feeling you know more than you let on, and I want to know what you know about this book."

"What I know of that book is less than nothing!" Astrid hissed, slitting on eye to glare at the young president, "You're grabbing at information that is far out of your reach, Rufus. I suggest that you stick to what you know and are capable of understanding before you get yourself hurt; no threat intended." She closed her eyes again, leaning back in her seat.

The rest of the flight went by in uncomfortable silence, but Astrid fell asleep quickly and managed to avoid the flames that were shooting from Rufus's eyes. Being told 'no' was one thing Rufus had refused to tolerate as a child, as a teenager, and as a young adult; there was no way he was going to tolerate it as the President of Shin-Ra. Oh no, he was not done questioning Astrid just yet.


	27. Back in ShinRa

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Back in Shin-Ra)

"I must say, Astrid, it is a pleasant surprise to see you again." Hojo said with a leer, holding up a large syringe in clear sight and draining sinister-looking red liquid through the needle from a vial. "When I said I'd be seeing you soon, I had no idea it would be this soon or under these circumstances."

"Cut the crap, Hojo." Astrid growled, her hands twitching from under her binds. Oh, how she hated these sterilized rooms, sterilized white, paper gowns, and these sterilized white ropes that held her tight against the sterilized metal table. "What are you doing back at Shin-Ra? I thought you quit?"

"They came crawling to me, begging me to come back. So, I accepted their offer… with a few altered conditions on my part. Besides," He looked at her and grinned, holding up the syringe and squeezing it until the liquid red arced out of it, glistening in the air, "There was always the promise that I'd be able to work with you once the Turks apprehended your friends."

Astrid glared at him, her eyes narrow, "Bastard."

Hojo chuckled, walking forward, "Now now, Astrid, just calm down and hold still. You'll only feel a pinch…" She struggled as much as she could against the bonds, but it wasn't enough to keep the needle back. Hojo stuck the needle into her arm, pressing down on the plunger.

Even as he backed away, Astrid could feel the liquid burning beneath her skin, spreading throughout her body. She grunted and struggled, eyes widening in fear and sweat pouring down her face. She looked up at Hojo, spit flying as she hissed, "What the hell was that?!"

"Just a special mako I've been developing especially for you." The scientist answered coolly, grinning as he walked over to a tray and set the syringe down. "You should experience a burning sensation for the first few moments, but soon, it's going to get worse. A lot worse." Even as he spoke, he could see her changing.

Astrid's body convulsed when the burning suddenly intensified, searing her insides. She threw her head back and screamed, throat ripping and burning. When the pain grew even more, she threw her head back sharply, skull smashing into the metal table. She did this over and over until her vision shattered and turned red and blood ran from her mouth, mixing with saliva and sweat and pooling behind her head, joining with the blood and hair there.

She could vaguely hear Hojo screaming out for assistance and felt him throw his feeble body against hers, trying to hold her down. Not even a moment later he was joined by several other bodies. The straps around her loosened and she was lifted from the table, carried by a mixture of scientists and soldiers.

As they carried her out of the lab, she saw Hojo standing by Rufus and the Turks by the doorway, all of them staring at her in disbelief. She scowled and raised her hand, pointing to Hojo, "Don't fucking think I'm standing for your experiments any more, Hojo. You don't own me." She then fell into black.

* * *

When next she woke, Astrid found herself in a familiar position. It seemed so long ago she had last woken to this…

She was tied to a chair in the Shin-Ra meeting room, Rufus sitting directly across from her and the Board of Directors occupying the first few tables near him, the Turks standing behind Heidegger.

"Hey, all." Astrid called, smirking when they all turned away from their conversations and looked at her, "I dunno about you, but I am getting the freakiest feeling of déjà vu. How have you all bee—"

"Be quiet, Astrid." Rufus snarled, glaring at her. "Do you have any idea what you nearly did to yourself? Do you have any idea what we had to spend two solid days fixing?! Do you have any idea what risk you put yourself in?!"

"Gimme a minute to think about it." She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, "Hmm… let's see… I do believe I severely fractured my skull, possibly almost to the point of it being a compound fracture. I also believe I did some major damage to my occipital and possibly my parietal lobes, and in retrospect I probably did some whiplash damage to my frontal lobe, as well as a bit of damage to my visual cortex. Overall, I'm a bit surprised I'm not in a coma, though I do suspect I may be recovering from a concussion." She opened her eyes again and grinned at the slightly shocked faces at the table, "Oh, did I ever tell you guys I wanted to be a neurologist?"

Rufus blinked, then scowled at her and hissed, "You knew what you were doing!"

"Of course." Astrid purred, narrowing her eyes, "I knew exactly what I was doing. I was administering a large amount possibly fatal damage to the grey matter between my ears so I could escape Hojo's torture and prove a point." She leaned forward, glaring at each and every person in the room, "And I'll do it again and again and again, however many times is needed to get you to understand that I will not tolerate it. I will no longer tolerate being a lab rat. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, I'll eventually get fed up and kill myself." She leaned back, sighing tiredly and closing her eyes in face of the horrified looks she was receiving, "I know many ways I can hurt myself, and I even know ones I can implement in the case of a complete body bind." She gazed at Rufus through half lidded eyes, "I wonder how many times it'll take for you to get it…"

They all stared at her with blank faces, watching her as she slumped back in her seat and closed her eyes again, apparently drifting off into a light doze.

"Hojo," Rufus said after a moment, turning to look at the scientist, "You will cease to perform new experiments on Miss Cray. If you are to use her for any form of experiment, then it is to only be checkups for whatever experiment you were in the process of conducting before the Sephiroth incident. Nothing after." The young president then stood, pressing a button and summoning two guards. He waved to Astrid when they walked in, "Take her to the containment bl—" He paused, looking at her, "No. Take her to one of the apartments on the sixty-first floor. Make sure it's a secure one so that she cannot escape. Then take the necessary precautions to make sure no one can get in or out, and that includes grating off the air vents."

Astrid snorted softly, grinning to herself as she was untied and lifted from the chair, then carried out of the room and to the elevators. 'I could get used to this…'

Several floors later, they carried her out of the elevator and down several halls, finally stopping. Hearing a few buttons being pinged, Astrid opened her eyes as much as her energy would allow and watched silently as the door in front of her slid open, revealing a large living room with a view of the first sector of Midgar, right where the sun was setting.

'Nice.' She wriggled wearily, mumbling, "Just leave me on the couch."

Surprising her a bit, the guards actually followed her orders and set her on the largest couch in the room, which happened to be facing the window. They then walked out silently, the door closing with a soft hiss.

Astrid sighed contentedly, "So, this is what I have to do to get a bit of respect around here? Threaten to kill myself? Sad…" She then watched the sun set silently, her eyes growing heavier as fell over the horizon. She was asleep roughly the same time that day turned to night.

* * *

It was several days later and Astrid was doing her best to settle into life as one of the… respected guests of Shin-Ra. Her apartment consisted of a large living room with a flat screen TV that rolled down from the ceiling, an adjoining kitchen with an bar separating the cooking space from the living space and a refrigerator that never seemed to run out of food, a huge bedroom with a king-sized bed and an adjoining bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub.

She had one of the higher-ups (usually Reeve or Rufus) visit her every day and the Turks every other day. She had no curfew and nothing was expected of her. Though the high levels of mako had troubled her in the beginning, Rufus had had a special shield installed around her room, and soon she no longer felt the slightly odd twinge in the back of her head. She stayed up all night and slept all day, and she ate whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.

But she wasn't happy.

Whenever she was awake, Astrid would sit on the large couch in front of the window and stare out at the Gaia beyond Midgar, wondering where her friends were. Whenever one of the higher-ups came to visit her, they found her non-responsive and distracted, gazing out the window with a glazed look in her eyes.

The fourth day she was there, Reno slipped her some materia as he and the Turks walked out. "It won't help you escape because the walls have been reinforced," He whispered, looking around to see if anyone was listening, "But it should keep you pretty occupied. I'd suggest using toilet paper as a target; they'll never tell the difference."

And he was right… for the most part. The only ones who really noticed where the cleaning ladies, who were shocked at the fact that she was so constantly and dreadfully ill that she managed to use up fifty rolls of toilet paper in three days.

Deciding to take her training a bit further than just blowing up toilet paper, Astrid then began using large bowls of water, leaves from the flowers, burning matches, and the electric outlets to try and manipulate the four elemental materia she had been given. She also practiced summoning Shiva in the bathroom and having the daemon freeze the water in the bathtub over and over.

Then, after a week, when she felt she was temporarily satisfied with her magic abilities, Astrid summoned Shiva again and had her summon a pile of body towels and pillows into a pillar of solid ice and cotton. She then tore out the curtain rod from her bedroom and picked up on her sword training, using the cottony, icy pillar as her target.

Using the training regimen Vincent had given her, Astrid melted her time away training and timing the visits she received from any and all Shin-Ra employees, not wanting anyone to know. She had the oddest feeling that some of the maids knew, but if they did they said nothing.

Then, one day, after two and a half weeks of being a 'guest', she had an unexpected guest in the form of Reno walking in just as she had sliced a solid pillar of ice in half with her fearsome curtain rod.

"Weeeew." Reno whistled, staring down at the ice and shaking his head, "Impressive. I figured you'd be training, but not like this." He looked up into her shocked face and grinned, "This is some nice work."

Clenching her jaw, Astrid straightened and stared at him, "What are you going to do?"

"Absolutely nothing." Reno answered, walking further into the apartment and dropping onto the sofa, brushing aside a few shards of ice. "Who am I to stop you from entertaining yourself?"

Astrid pursed her lips, "You know perfectly well why I am doing this, Reno."

"'Course I do." He yawned, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head, "But I'm not going to stop you from trying to save your brother. That's just wrong."

She stared at him for a moment, then walked over to the sofa and sat down beside him, staring out the window, "Where are they?"

"The Gold Saucer, I believe." Reno answered, twisting his ankle until it popped, "That ninja girl, Yuffie, held them up in Wutai for a bit when she stole their materia, then they were held up again when Don Coreno showed up and kidnapped the ninja and Elena. They tried to get into the Temple of the Ancients, but couldn't without the Keystone, so they went to the house on the peninsula to look for it and got redirected to Gold Saucer. They're probably still there now, doing whatever Dio wants them to do in order to earn it."

Astrid glanced over at him, frowning, "Then shouldn't you and the rest of the Turks be there?"

"Nah." Reno waved a hand at her, "We'll worry about it when they get the Keystone for us and actually get to the Temple. But that's not what I'm here for." He then looked at her seriously, "Do you want to get out of here?"

Astrid blinked, "Wha?"

"Do you want to get out of here?" Reno asked again, turning to face her, "Do you want to get back to them and continue on your journey? Because if you do, then—"

"Hold it." Astrid cut in, waving her hand. She looked at him for a moment, then frowned, "Why?"

Reno shrugged, "Do I need a reason to help a friend?" When she didn't answer, he smiled, "Alright, then, so here's what's going to happen…"

Astrid looked at her reflection in the mirror. In one hand she held her hair, and in the other a pair of scissors. Frowning, she turned back in the direction of her bedroom. "I don't think I can do this, you guys."

There was a crash, like someone had tripped over something, and Reno shouted back, "How hard is it to cut your hair?!"

"Very! Especially when you have no idea what you're doing!" She screamed, turning back to glare at her reflection.

The door opened and Elena walked in, striding across the bathroom and taking the scissors from Astrid's hand. "Let go of your hair." The woman then took the hair in her own hands and began cutting it.

Astrid flinched as inch by inch of her hair was cut away, the waist-long brown tresses quickly falling to just her shoulders, then even shorter. "How short is it going to go?"

"My length." Elena answered, not looking up from her work.

Astrid sighed and closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself with Elena-length hair. It wasn't working.

"Alright. Done." Elena said shortly, turning abruptly and walking out of the room.

Hesitantly opening her eyes, Astrid blinked at her reflection. 'Huh. Not bad, actually.' After doing a quick cleanup and flushing all of the hair down the toilet, she walked out of the bathroom and faced the people waiting for her.

Tseng, Rude and Elena had apparently felt the same way Reno had and agreed to help Reno help Astrid escape. Coming up with a quick plan involving a Turk suit, a makeover, and one of the clueless Turk trainees, they had gotten to work.

Now, the plan was in motion.

"Put this on." Tseng said, throwing a pantsuit to Astrid.

She caught it and walked back into the bathroom, throwing it on and walking back out a moment later for Tseng's scrutiny.

He looked her up and down, nodding, "Good. You're already less recognizable. Now, one last thing." He took a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and set them on her face, backing away and nodding again. "Perfect."

Astrid blinked, "Aren't sunglasses Rude's thing?"

"You're going to need them to get out of the building. You're eyes are a dead giveaway." Tseng answered.

"Ah." Astrid had forgotten. Her mako eyes. "So, where are the others?"

The leader of the Turks nodded towards the living room, "Off getting your replacement ready."

In the living room, Astrid could have died laughing. The Turk trainee that they had brought was a clueless and confused young boy, new to the training program and clearly nowhere near Turk material. His brown hair was a bit shorter than hers and his eyes were brown, but he was roughly her height and had her same basic build, minus the discrepancy in the chest area.

The trainee, whose name was Ray, looked nervous as Elena and Reno fitted him with a wig. He stared at Astrid with wide eyes when she walked in, "Who's that?"

"Keep still." Reno growled, slapping the trainee on the back of the head. Ray sat up ramrod straight.

"This," Tseng answered, indicating to Astrid, "Is the person you are replacing. According to the exercise, she is a member of the Shin-Ra Board of Directors, and we believe someone may be attempting to assassinate her. You are going to first take her place, then engage anyone who attempts to force their way into this apartment. In the meantime, we shall be escorting her to a safe location."

"And this is all just an exercise, right?" Ray squeaked, flinching as Elena rubbed some peach cover-up on the side of his head to hide the line of the wig, "I mean, no one is really going to try to… kill me, right?"

"Exercise or not," Rude grumbled from his position by the doorway, standing guard, "You are to treat this like a real mission. The enemy won't care if you think this is an exercise; they'll kill you."

Ray gulped and fell silent.

When Reno and Elena were done, Ray could have very well passed for Astrid… if he were in a dark tunnel and the person looking at him was blind. Regardless, he still resembled her from behind, so that was good enough.

"Alright," Tseng looked down at his watch, nodding, "Not bad considering the time restraints. Now, we begin phase two." He looked at the others around him and nodded, "Let's get going."

They walked out of the room, entering the lockdown password on the keypad and heading straight for the elevator. At the top, they boarded a helicopter and Rude handed Astrid the same box all of her things had been locked away into when they had captured her. She reequipped herself with her sword and gun, sliding her materia into their slots. She then leaned back in her seat and watched Midgar pass by below as they flew on to the Temple of the Ancients.


	28. Incident at the Temple of the Ancients

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Incident at the Temple of the Ancients)

"What the hell is the big idea?!" Astrid screamed up at the helicopter, glaring at the four faces staring down at her. "The Temple isn't for another four miles, and that's through the forest! You're just going to leave me here?!"

"It's best this way." Tseng shouted back, "If they see you with us, they might suspect you."

"Besides," Reno shouted next, smiling, "You are technically the enemy, after all. We can't help you go the whole way. Later!" The four heads disappeared and the door slid shut, the helicopter taking off even before the door was latched.

Grumbling, Astrid stood and rubbed her butt, wincing, 'That freaking hurt! I'm gonna kill Reno the next time I see him… Honestly, pushing me out of a moving helicopter! The nerve of him!' She then looked at the forest in front of her, sighing, "This is going to be oodles of fun…" Taking out her sword, she then began her trek.

Two hours, twenty battles, and ninety-nine incidents of tripping over roots later, Astrid arrived before the Temple of the Ancients. It was majestic. It was marvelous. It was a great feat of ancient architecture. It had…

"TOO MANY SETS OF STAIRS!!" Astrid screamed, dropping to her knees and raising her hands to the heavens, "WHY?! WHYEEEEEEEEE!!" After collapsing into a five minute nervous breakdown, she sobered up and walked up the stairs and into the antechamber.

The pedestal in the center of the room had already been activated, and to the left and in the back there were signs of an obvious struggle. That was when she saw them.

"Elena? Tseng!" She ran over to them and kneeled down, hands hovering over the man's body.

He had been slashed several times at the waist and his right arm was limp, blood pooling beneath him. Tseng looked up at Astrid and smiled, "H-hello, Miss Cray. It's good to see you got here s-s-safely." He coughed, blood running from his mouth.

Elena gasped and lifted her hand, rubbing it away with the back of her hand. She looked up at Astrid with wide eyes, "Sephiroth is here! He and Marcus both. Cloud and the others took off after them, but—"

"Be quiet!" Astrid snapped, pulling a 'Restore' out of her pocket. Holding it in one hand, she crossed her other hand over the top and held them over the wounds on Tseng's waist, closing her eyes and breathing out slowly. She felt the materia get gradually warmer and warmer until it burned, and she clenched her teeth when she could feel her skin cracking in some areas. A moment later, the heat died and she fell over, panting heavily.

"Oh… Astrid…" She heard Elena gasp.

Astrid shot up and looked at the wounds, sighing happily. They had closed. She then looked at Elena seriously, "Where are Reno and Rude?"

"Sent off on another mission at the last minute." Tseng answered, staring at his healed skin in wonder. He looked up at her, "How did you—"

"Elena," Astrid cut in, looking at the woman, "Listen to me carefully: You need to get Tseng out of here. He needs to get back to Shin-Ra and he needs a blood transfusion. If you don't do it quickly, being healed won't matter; his body might start to shut down." She stood, running to the opened tunnel behind the pedestal, "Get going and stay safe!"

The Temple of the Ancients was large and convoluted, stairs ascending and descending up and down, from left to right, in and out, and in all other ways possible. Everywhere led somewhere different, and the same tunnel never had the same outcome. After getting several hours of getting thoroughly lost and confused, Astrid finally made some progress. She heard voices.

Just as she rounded a corner, Astrid crashed right into Cloud.

"CLOUD!" Too happy to care, Astrid lunged at him and hugged him around the neck, nearly strangling him. She then looked up and fount the others staring at the in shock. "GUYS!" She jumped back from Cloud and attacked the others, hugging everyone in turn until she ended up hugging poor Vincent, who stood stark still and thoroughly confused.

"Hold it right there, Turk!" There was the sound of a gun cocking and Astrid turned to find Barret pointing his gun arm at her, glaring, "Let him go and back away."

"Barret, it's me, Astrid!" She yanked off her sunglasses, throwing them aside. She then paused and looked around, "Where's Cait Sith?"

"Astrid?!" The group exclaimed, looking her up and down.

She blinked and looked at them, "What?"

"We'll talk about it later!" Cloud shouted, pointing down the hall, "We have to get out of here now!"

"Wait! Where's Cait Sith?!" Astrid demanded.

Aerith looked at her sadly, shaking her head, "He… decided to stay behind to activate the Temple. He's going to make the Black Materia."

"WHAT?!"

"No time." Vincent grunted, shaking her off (she had still been hugging him) and grabbing her arm, "We have to escape now." He started to pull her down the tunnel.

"No!" Astrid screamed, digging her heels into the ground, "Not without Cait Sith! Cait!" She turned down the tunnel and started screaming, "Cait! Get your furry ass back here, damn it! CAIT SITH!"

Vincent drug her kicking and screaming out of the Temple, silently enduring her crying and punching at his arm. Outside of the Temple, Astrid collapsed and watched with wide eyes as the structure started to collapse.

Astrid suddenly gasped and dug out her PHS, dialing Cait Sith's number with trembling fingers. When she heard the click of the phone being answered, she said, "Cait Sith?"

"Astrid? Is that you?" The cat answered.

Seeing the structure waver, Astrid gasped, "You have to get out of there!"

"It's alright, Astrid!" The cat exclaimed happily, and she could imagine him jumping up and down excitedly, "I'm finally able to do something to help you guys out! This is great! Just, please… if another 'Cait Sith' happens to come along… don't forget me."

"CAIT!"

The building collapsed and the line went dead.

Astrid fell to her knees and watched in horror as the collapsed building collapsed even further, falling in on itself and sinking into a giant hole. After a few moments, the group ran forward and stared down into the hole, their eyes automatically training on the shining black thing in the center.

"The Black Materia!" Aerith gasped, jumping down into the hole.

"Aerith!" Cloud jumped in after her.

The rest of the group sat back and watched the two as they retrieved the Black Materia from the bottom of the hole.

"Hmm, the Black Materia… how interesting."

Astrid jumped from her position and spun around, gasping when she saw her brother. "Marcus?!" He was standing right beside her, gazing down into the hole.

He glanced at her and grinned, "Hey, Astrid. How ya doin? Your head okay? You seemed pretty bad when I left you in Nibel. Nice hair, by the way."

Scowling, Astrid pulled out her gun and pointed it at him, "Where is Sephiroth?"

Rolling his eyes, Marcus looked back down into the hole, "Oh, he's retrieving the Black Materia."

"What?!" Astrid looked back down into the hole, staring in horror as Cloud turned suddenly to face the silver-haired specter standing right behind him.

Cloud lifted his sword to strike, but froze when Sephiroth held his hand before him. Cloud seemed to jerk for a moment, then his arms fell and he dropped his sword. He then turned back to Aerith, who was staring at him, and fell on her, punching her head.

"Aerith!" Astrid screamed, "Cloud, stop!" She moved forward and was about to jump when Marcus grabbed her from behind, holding her in place.

"Stand back and watch, Astrid." Marcus hissed in her ear, "Watch the true nature of your 'fearless leader' and keep this in mind; that woman won't be tormented by the memory of her loved one beating her much longer, because soon she will die, just as she did in the game."

Astrid struggled against her brother's grip, watching as Aerith was punched over and over by Cloud. Then, Tifa jumped down into the hole and tackled Cloud, Barret jumping in a moment later and shooting at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth seemed unfazed by the bullets that bore into his chest and he gradually rose into the air, beckoning to Marcus as he passed. Marcus abruptly let Astrid go and rose after him, kicking her in the back of the head lightly.

Knocked off balance, Astrid teetered at the edge of the hole for a moment before she pitched forward, screaming and falling head over heels down into the hole. She slammed hard onto her back and fell unconscious.

_She was back in the white place, standing in the ankle-deep water. This time, though, she wasn't alone. Before her stood two people: Marcus to her right and Aerith to her left._

_Marcus looked exactly as he did on the outside; tall and lank, his hair grey-blonde and his eyes mako green. He held his gun in one hand and the other fell limp at his side. He was bathed in blood, the red staining the water around him pink. He looked at her, though, with wide, fearful eyes._

_Aerith was calm and collected, a slight smile on her face. The water around her feet was mako green and some of it rose up and swirled around her in thin tendrils._

_The Lifestream._

_Remembering what had happened to Aerith, Astrid began to walk towards her._

_Aerith held up a hand to stop her, shaking her head. 'Your brother needs you, Astrid.'_

_Marcus looked at his sister with pleading eyes._

_Astrid looked at Aerith and stuttered, 'Bu-but you—'_

'_I will be fine.' Aerith insisted, smiling at Astrid. 'Go to Marcus. He needs you, now more than ever.'_

_Turning slightly and walking towards her brother, it suddenly struck Astrid that this would be the last time she would be able to talk to Aerith. Cold tears in her eyes, she looked at her friend- her first friend from the group- and smiled, 'I'm going to miss you, Aerith.'_

'_Don't worry.' Aerith replied, smiling, 'We'll see each other again. I promise.' And with that, Aerith sank into the white water and disappeared._

_Astrid turned to her brother and smiled, opening her arms to him, 'Come to me, Marcus.'_

_He ran forward and hugged her, getting blood all over her white body and black outline, 'I'm so scared, Astrid. I want to go home.'_

'_We'll go home, Marcus,' she said, smiling, 'I promise.'_

_Marcus pulled back, shaking his head sadly, 'I don't think I will, Astrid. I don't even think you will.'_

_Astrid frowned, 'What do you mean?'_

'_Jenova won't let us. Either of us.'_

'_Jenova…' Astrid frowned. Suddenly feeling something, she turned around quickly and looked. There hovering about five feet above the ground, was the Book. She turned back around to face her brother, but he was already gone, the pink tint in the water already fading. She turned back to the Book and walked to it._

_As soon as she got a couple of feet away from it, the water around her ankles was suddenly warm. The cover of the Book was glowing softly, so she grabbed it and flipped it open. Several pages flipped on their own after than, skimming through several hundred pages of writing. Then, it stopped on the last page of writing. She started reading._

**_Aerith looked back at the small village of Gongaga sadly, thinking of both her former love and her current, who was lying in a hospital and recovering from Sephiroth's control. Sighing, the Centra then turned and faced the road back to Costa del Sol. Planning to wander back, steal a boat, and go to the Icicle Area to save her friends, she started walking with a light heart, keeping in mind that she would see them again and they would all be able to live together happily._**

**_Meanwhile, in the Forgotten Capital, Marcus wandered away from his Master and found an abandoned home. Walking inside, he collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. Jenova was having Sephiroth teach the boy some new powers, but Marcus wasn't taking to them well. He had already learned so much, and his mind felt so full. He feared that, if he learned anything else, his body would—_**

**_Brushing the thought off, Marcus pushed himself back to his feet and walked over to a bed, laying down on it, thinking that if he got some sleep he would feel better. But, even as Marcus was drifting off, he lost another memory of his life back on Earth and his pancreas shut down._**

_Astrid stumbled backwards and watched the Book shut itself, fear blooming in her chest. Marcus was dying. She had to wake up and go to him before it was too late._

_Just then, she began to sink into the water. She closed her eyes as her head submerged, keeping her mission in mind._


	29. Rushing

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Rushing)

From the moment Astrid awoke, she was in a rush. Pushing past the protesting hands of those around her, she immediately started gathering her things and readying to travel to the Icicle Area. She told everyone everything that was going on, but she spoke too fast for anyone to understand. Upon hearing that they had to wait for Cloud to wake up to be able to go anywhere, she sat down rigidly in a chair and waited, refusing to say anything else.

Cloud didn't awake for several hours, but when he did he was in just as big a hurry as Astrid. They both insisted to push on immediately, despite protests from the group about their unstable states of health. Cloud was more of a concern than Astrid, but they were both equally persistent and they both became just as angry when the group tried to get them to stay still.

If only to placate the two angry, injured people, the rest of the group packed and they all left Gongaga, boarded the _Tiny Bronco_, and rode it up along the coast, all the way around the continent and across the shallows of the ocean.

Astrid regarded the new Cait Sith suspiciously at first, but quickly accepted that he was basically the same as the first and brushed it off, still vowing to keep the former Cait Sith's final wish and never forget him.

As soon as they landed on the beach of the northern continent, Cloud and Astrid jumped off of the airplane and sped off to the forest, the rest of the group not far behind. Though Cloud and Astrid wanted to run straight through Bone Village and head to the next location, the diggers stopped them.

"You can't get through that forest without the Fairy Harp!" The leader of the archeologists insisted, "If you try, the forest will turn you around and around and you'll get lost! You'll never be able to get out."

"Where is the harp, then?" Cloud growled, glaring at the man darkly.

The man gulped and took a step back, "It's… uh… buried."

"Buried?" Astrid snapped, grabbing the man by the collar, "Buried where?!"

"A-around here, we think!" The man exclaimed, waving his hand around the excavation sight. "I-if you want to l-look for it, we'll help! Just tell us where to place our men, we'll set of the dynamite, measure the vibrations, and then we'll dig wherever the vibrations tell us."

"Put one there!" Astrid snapped, pointing to an area. The man snapped his fingers and another one of the men jumped on the point, standing perfectly still. "And there!" Astrid walked around the camp, pointing to five areas. They then ignited the dynamite and all of the men looked down at the scanners in their hands, turning in the direction of the found item.

"Dig here." Cloud demanded, stomping on a particular spot.

"I'll get someone on it immediately!" The lead man said, taking Astrid and Cloud by the elbows and pulling them towards the tents, "It'll take all night to search, so why don't you and the rest of your group get some rest? We'll leave the item outside of your tents in the morning and you can be on your way… if it is the harp, that is."

The party filed into two separate tents, Tifa, Barret, Cid, and Yuffie following Cloud to keep him under control and Red, Cait Sith, and Vincent following Astrid to keep her under control.

Astrid sat in the back of the tent and glared at the entrance, her arms and legs crossed.

"Uh… Astrid?"

Her eyes flew to Cait Sith and she hissed, "What?!"

The cat shrunk back and murmured, "What's going on with you and Cloud?"

Astrid blinked, then sighed and sat back, suddenly tired, "I'm not sure about Cloud, but…" She pulled her knees up to her chin, "Marcus is in trouble… serious trouble."

"How do you know?" Red asked, tilting his head.

"I can… feel it." She lowered her eyes, staring at her feet. She had nearly told them about her mental connection to Marcus. She was going to have to be more careful about that. "I… I think he may be ill. He didn't… seem right back at the Temple. He looked a bit too gaunt, and his skin was sallow." And that was the truth. She hadn't had much time to look closely back then, but now that she thought about it he had looked sick.

"Don't worry, Astrid," Red murmured, rubbing his head against her arm, "We'll get to him before anything happens."

Astrid sighed and rubbed the feline's head, "I hope so, Red."

"Can this help you in any way?" Astrid looked up and found Vincent holding the Book out to her, his claret eyes unable to completely hide his concern.

"Maybe…" She muttered, taking the Book from him, "If I…" She lay the Book out in front of her and flipped through it to the very last pages, where there was no writing and there wouldn't be for some time. She thought about it, then said, "Okay, I trust you guys to listen to this and not go insane or tell anyone, so I am going to tell you a bit about this book."

"Are you sure about that?" Red growled, glancing at Cait Sith, "I trust him more than I did, but he's still…"

"I know and trust the person who is on the other side of the microphone completely." Astrid cut in, staring directly at Cait Sith. "If he has any doubt in his loyalty to me and the rest of our group and cause, then I also trust him to leave of his own accord." When Cait Sith didn't move but looked down at the Book determinedly, Astrid smiled and looked down, as well, "Okay, so here it goes:

"To say that this book is special would be an understatement. This book has been in the Cosmo Canyon library for a few hundred years, but it still held the Prologue to the story of my journey here in Gaia; the very journey we are on now. In addition, beyond the Prologue the Book is also documenting my journey in a full, unabridged account."

"So," Cait Sith cut in, scratching the back of his head, "How will this help?"

"I believe," Astrid murmured, running a finger over the blank pages, "That this book will also record the actions of others whose lives affect me directly. And I think that… I might be able to make it tell me. After all," She looked up and shrugged, "I did write the Prologue, so why shouldn't I be able to 'write' about what's going on outside of the party? And, even if I'm not writing about it directly, I should, theoretically, be able to have some influence, right?"

After a moment of silence, the three others in the tent agreed on various levels.

"Perhaps…" Red muttered, scratching himself behind his ear.

"It sounds possible." Cait Sith admitted, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Theoretically it seems sound." Vincent said, frowning a bit, "But you shouldn't—"

"I know, I know." Astrid cut in, rolling her eyes, "It's a bit of a stretch, so I shouldn't get my hopes up. Don't worry, I'm not." She flipped to the last page of writing and spent a few seconds watching the letters form. She then sat up straight and cleared her throat, saying loudly and clearly, "I wonder how Marcus is doing."

The three males exchanged worried glances, then leaned in closer to look at the page.

For a moment, nothing happened; the characters continued to form on the page as they normally would:

**_A tense silence settled over the tent as its occupants waited for the Book to react to Astrid's odd request._**

**_Would it work?_**

**_Would the Book react?_**

**_Or would Astrid be disappointed?_**

**_Then—_**

**SSSSHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

They all jumped back as the Book let out a screech, so loud and unearthly they could almost feel their fingernails being ripped out from under their cuticles. The sound carried on for a moment, then faded as the Book started to flicker, the pages alternating between flashing red and white.

_**Astrid…**_

Hearing the Book actually whisper her name, Astrid leaned in closer to the page, her mind fogging.

_**Astrid… go to him.**_

"Where is he at?" She heard someone ask, taking a moment to realize it was her own voice.

_**The Forgotten Capital… Now, go!... Hurry… He doesn't have much longer…**_

"Marcus." Without thinking further, she jumped to her feet and ran out of the tent, unopposed by her friends who continued to stare at the Book in shock.

The Book started flickering again, and then the characters returned to their normal font.

**_With the words ringing in her head, Astrid flew out of the tent and ran to the hole the archeologist had dug, jumping in and pushing him aside. She dug into the earth with her bare hands, pulling out the Fairy Harp a moment later._**

**_Running to the edge of the forest, Astrid plucked a few notes on the harp and ran in, dropping the harp. The trees relented to her wish and let her pass without fight. Astrid raced through the forest, ignoring the branches slapping her face and the rocks digging into her bare feet, and ran straight down the cobbled road to the Forgotten Capital, preparing to begin her frantic search for her young brother, hoping to find him before it was too late._**

They watched this for a few moments, then jumped to their feet and rushed to get their things together, Red running next door to wake Cloud and the others. They packed in record time and took off to the forest.

Upon entering the trees, a foggy haze set over their minds and they were lost. They had taken too long. The forest denied them access, and the harp was lost somewhere in the brush.

* * *

After searching countless shell homes, Astrid finally found what she was looking for.

The front door to one of the houses at the edge of town had been left hanging open and the sand on the doorstep had recently been disturbed. Someone had been in this house, and it didn't look like they had left

Holding her breath, Astrid pushed through the door and stood inside, squinting into the darkness. Where the pale moonlight leaked through the door and shone on the floor, she found that more sand that had been on the floor had been roiled around, though this time on a larger scale. There was also a partial handprint left in the sand. 'Someone fell here…'

She shut the door behind her and walked further into the house, eyes adjusting quickly with the help of the windows and the moonlight. She found the beds in the back of the house, and she found Marcus sprawled out on one.

"Marcus…" She rushed over and knelt beside the bed, peeling an eyelid back carefully and looking at his face closely.

His pupil was fully dilated and the whites of his eyes were yellowing. The skin on his face was paler then he usually was, even after he had joined Sephiroth, and it had an unhealthy tinge of green. On top of that his eyelids were oddly cool… Pressing her hand against his forehead, Astrid choked. He was freezing.

He moaned and rolled onto his back, one of his eyes slitting open and looking at her hazily, "A…Astrid?"

She smiled faintly, rubbing his cheek, "Hey, Marcus."

Marcus moaned again, this time with pain evident in his voice, "I… I don't f-feel so g-good, Astrid. And t-this h-h-house is so c-c-c-c-cold." His teeth were chattering as he spoke, and with him on his back she could see his lips were blue.

"It's alright," She murmured, standing and crawling over the top of him. Lying down on the other side of him, she turned on her side and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer and wrapping one of her legs around both of his. Even as tall as he was now, it was hard to be like this and not remember that this was her little brother; her little thirteen-year-old Marcus, the boy who slept with a stuffed cat and had a stupid pudding bowl haircut. "This better?"

Marcus nodded mutely, leaning into her and sighing. Astrid smiled. This was just like it used to be right after they had watched horror movies together. Marcus would wake up crying in the middle of the night and run to her room, she would let him sleep in her bed, and then she would get a thorough scolding the next day for letting him watch macabre.

Now, though, the situation was far graver than just watching a horror movie. Their lives were a horror movie.

Reaching under the both of them, Astrid yanked up the remains of a blanket and lay it over Marcus as much as she could, then pulled off her jacket and lay it over him. Huddling closer to him, she opened her eyes as wide as she could, trying to stay awake. 'When a person goes to sleep, unnecessary functions slow and the body becomes colder. If I stay awake, maybe…'

She fell asleep soon after.


	30. Falling

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Falling)

Astrid sat up in the bed and stared at the space beside her. Marcus was still there, dozing lightly and apparently uncomfortably. His face was scrunched up and every breath seemed laborious to him. His hands were clutching his abdomen tightly and there was a fine sheen of sweat on his face.

'Pancreas failure…' She remembered that was what the Book had said it was in the white place. She figured the only reason he hadn't died yet was because of the power that Sephiroth had given him, but it had also been that power that caused this.

He was no longer cold, but rather he was terribly warm. Almost hot. And she knew that his temperature was steadily rising. To add to her problems, Sephiroth was probably wandering around the city, as was her group, and Aerith was still missing.

After finding as many shreds of blankets as she could and stuffing them inside of her jacket, pulling Marcus's arms through the sleeves and zipping it up, she covered the windows with some old boards and walked out of the house, shutting the door behind her.

"Don't worry, Marcus," She muttered, scattering the sand in front of the door evenly to try to make it look natural, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

She wandered around the town silently for a bit, looking for the others while trying to keep careful of her sore feet. 'Ran out of the tent last night without even putting on socks…'

After two hours she ended up scouring the entire town once, so she did it again, only working back to where she started. She was just in sight of the house where Marcus was when she heard footsteps and shouts.

"Aerith?! Astrid!"

"Astrid?! Astrid! AERITH!"

"Hello?!"

"Aerith n' Astrid?! Where are you?!"

Instead of running for them, Astrid dove behind a boulder and crouched down, peeking out from behind it.

The party was walking up the road towards her, Red leading with his nose hovering just above the ground.

Barret sighed loudly, "You got anything, Red?"

"Hmm." The feline lifted his head and shook it, looking around and frowning, "Nothing of Aerith yet, but Astrid's scent is all over this place. I think she may have been looking for something, but I can't tell where she headed. There is a fresher scent of her mingling with the old, and neither of them head in any particular direction. Fortunately, the scent of blood hints that the injury was light. It's probably just from her running out barefoot last night."

"So we definitely know she's here." Cloud said, looking down at Red and crossing his arms, "But you have nothing on Aerith."

"No." He answered, shaking his head, "Even if she was bleeding lightly, the scent of Astrid's blood is everywhere she walked and it is strong. I can't really smell anything beyond her."

"Well," Yuffie cut in, groaning, "What're we gonna do no—"

Astrid slipped away and ran back to the house, sliding back into the shell and locking the door behind her. She then walked into the bedroom as stared at the still sleeping Marcus. 'I can't let them see him. He's already messed up one too many times, so Cloud won't listen to a word I say. If they see him, they might try to kill him… or at the least take me away from him.'

"Astrid."

She jumped and looked at her brother, who was looking at her with dull eyes. Kneeling down beside him, she grabbed his hand, "What, Marcus?"

Marcus sighed and whispered, "Go to them."

Astrid blinked, "How did you…" She trailed off, remembering the mental link.

Marcus nodded, "That's right. Our mental link. I know that they're here and that they're looking for you, and you need to go to them."

"But…" Astrid muttered, squeezing his hand, "What about you, Marcus? I can't leave you like this."

"Master Sephiroth is near." Marcus breathed, closing his eyes, "I'll contact him as soon as you get back to them and you're safe. Now go."

She paused, thinking, "What about Aerith? Back at the Temple, you said something was going to happen to her soon. What were you talking about?"

"If you don't get out of here," Marcus hissed, squinting his eyes, "I'll call the Master now and have him kill all of you. Now go!"

"What about Aerith?! I'm not going until—" She was cut off when he reached out and grabbed her around the throat, holding it tightly until she started to asphyxiate.

"Take your jacket," Marcus snarled, glaring at her, "And go." He then pushed her backwards harshly, making her fly across the room and slam into the wall. He turned away, facing the wall, "Don't make me regret not killing you while you were sleeping, Astrid."

After a moment of silence, Astrid stood and walked over to the bed, unzipping her jacket and easing his arms out of it. He just stared dully at the wall the whole time, not saying a word.

As she was walking out, she paused at the doorway, "Marcus… I know that you're dying, but I don't want you to think you have to turn to Sephiroth to get rid of me. If you need help… I'll always hear you. You just have to let me." He didn't answer, so she walked out of the room and out of the house.

Outside, she followed the shouts of her friends until she found them standing in the center of a courtyard, whereupon Tifa and Yuffie fell upon her with hugs and the others with interrogative questions.

"Astrid!" Red exclaimed, catching the scent of Marcus hanging from her and her coat, "You—"

"Been bleeding?" She cut in, laughing, "Yeah, well, that's what happens when humans go barefoot, eh?" When she gave him a pointed stare, he dropped what he was going to say.

"You look terrible!" Tifa exclaimed, "What happened to you?!"

"You know, the usual." Astrid shrugged, "Running through a forest all night, climbing huge mollusk shells, and sleeping on sandy, cold beds. Nice architecture, though." Then, her eyes went out of focus and she fell forward, coming to a second later leaning against Vincent.

He pressed his hand to her forehead, "You're burning up." He then straightened and picked her up, "We need to get her to a bed. It's getting late, anyway, so it would be best if we set camp for night."

When the rest of the group agreed, they all split up to look for usable houses, Vincent and Cloud staying behind to keep an eye on things.

"Astrid." She looked up at Cloud, who was staring at her, "Have you seen Aerith?"

Astrid shook her head, sighing, "No. I've searched this place top to bottom three times but I've found nothing."

"Damn," Cloud muttered, looking at the houses around them, "Where is she?!"

Astrid kept her mouth shut tightly, not sure of whether she should say anything. 'Marcus made it sound like something might happen, but…' She looked at Vincent and Cloud, and then to the others who were returning from their searches, 'He'll know if I tell them, and he'll tell Sephiroth to hurt them… or kill them.' She lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut, 'Aerith, what do I do?!'

"I found a place over here!" Yuffie shouted, running up and waving her arms, "There's five beds and a whole bunch of blankets that are still intact!"

"We're going there, then." Cloud grunted, gathering a few bags, including Astrid's backpack, "Let's go."

They blocked up the windows and started a fire in the center of the room, circling the five beds around them and piling them with blankets. Yuffie and Tifa doubled up on a bed, and Red XIII joined Astrid to keep her warm. Cait Sith went into 'sleep mode' in a corner of the room and Vincent leaned against the wall, insisting that he wanted to keep watch the whole night. That left Cloud, Barret, and Cid to their own beds. They all bedded down in the late afternoon and were asleep before the evening.

In the twilight, Astrid got up and put on her shoes (Tifa had already put three pairs of socks on her feet), then grabbed her jacket and gun and slipped out of the house. Outside, she walked down several paths until she came to the amphitheater, the giant blue crystal sitting on its pedestal in the center.

Sitting down on one of the rows, she leaned back and stared at the sky, watching the stars above her flicker and glimmer. 'I think I get why the Centra put their capital here. You can be so close to the planet and so close to space at the same time…'

"Miss Cray."

Shocked, she jumped up and let out a yelp, staring at the person emerging from the shadows with wide eyes. She let out a sigh of relief at who it was, "Vincent! Don't do that!"

"I apologize," Vincent said, walking closer, "But you really should be in bed. You are not well."

"My illness isn't physical, Vincent," Astrid objected, leaning back and staring at the sky again, "It's purely psychological, and I—"

"Can easily overcome it, yes, yes, you've said that once before," Vincent grumbled, rolling his eyes, "But, psychological or not, it is still affecting you physically and you don't want to encourage physical illness."

She was silent, staring at the sky. Vincent stood quietly, staring at her and starting when she said, "I found him here, you know."

"I thought so." Vincent answered, nodding, "I thought it was a bit odd that you seemed so calm and collected after panicking at what you read in the Book."

"…Something bad is going to happen to Aerith." Astrid blurted without thinking.

They were both silent for a moment, then Vincent asked with obvious shock, "What do you mean?!"

"I mean," Astrid said slowly, sitting up, "Marcus told me something bad was going to happen to Aerith. I think Sephiroth plans to kill her."

"When did you learn this?!" Vincent exclaimed, his eyes a bit wide, "Why didn't you tell anyone?!"

"Marcus told me not to." She answered, lowering her eyes, "He said he would have Sephiroth kill all of you."

Vincent fell silent again, asking after a moment, "Why do you keep telling me things like this?"

"I think it's your eyes." Astrid said without much thought, her tone light and airy, "The way you look at people, with that underlying sense of wisdom gained over years of experience, it gives them a sense that you understand their problems and have experienced them before. Kind of like a father-type, but not really. Closer than a father, perhaps."

He stared at her silently for a moment, then answered his PHS when it rang. "Vincent. …Yes… Yes… I see… Very well." Snapping the phone shut, he nodded to Astrid, "Cloud woke shouting delirious things about Aerith being in danger and ran off. We're joining with the others and going after him."

They met up with the rest of the group a few roads away from the edge of town and started running, trying to catch up with their leader. They found him not a long ways down the center road, heading through the split in a cliff.

"Let's go!" He shouted as they caught up with him, glaring at them angrily, "Aerith needs us now!"

They were hardly in a position to oppose him when he ran on, so they ran after him. The crevice soon spread out in a large, dome shaped area, the largest conch house they had seen by far standing near the center and behind a lake. They ran around the edge after him, hesitantly heading inside.

A ways down the spiral floor, they found him stopped and staring down at the hold in the floor. There was a series of glass steps that started at the edge where he stood and spiraled down, heading down into a brightly lit area below.

Cloud looked up at them as they approached, his eyes slightly glazed, "She's in there. Come on." And he began to descend.

The stairs led down to an underground cathedral, everything made of pedestals that were anchored to some floor that was hidden by several feet of water. The path they followed led to one particular altar, and it was there they found Aerith, kneeling with her hands clasped before her.

They all froze and stared at her, but Astrid walked up to Cloud and nudged him in the back, "Go to her, Cloud."

Stepping forward, he began to ascend her altar slowly, not wanting to disturb her. When he came to stand right in front of her, they heard him mutter, "Aerith…" But the Centra didn't seem to hear. Then, out of nowhere, Cloud pulled out his sword and held it over his head, the blade aimed at Aerith.

"CLOUD!" Tifa shouted.

"CLOUD, NO!" Astrid screamed, running up the steps to the altar.

"LOOK OUT!" Marcus's voice screamed, and he suddenly appeared in front of Astrid and grabbed her

But it was too late.

At that moment, as Cloud lowered his sword and Marcus held his sister back, Sephiroth descended from above Aerith. The woman was just looking up to smile at Cloud when Sephiroth's great katana impaled her through the back, coming out her abdomen.

Aerith let out a strangled gasp, coughed up blood, and fell over, dead.

The sounds coming from Astrid's throat were no longer screams as she tore at her brother's arms, trying to get past him and get to Aerith. Aerith couldn't be dead, she couldn't be. If Aerith died, then the world would end. Aerith dying just… didn't work in her mind.

But the woman was dead.

She lay on the floor of the altar of her ancestors, blood pooling around her even as Cloud fell down onto his knees beside her, taking her in his arms and trying to talk to her, trying to get her to speak. When she didn't, though, the man turned on Sephiroth, setting Aerith's body aside and picking up his sword.

"SEPHIROTH!!" Cloud bellowed, running at him.

Sephiroth just laughed, rising into the air and dropping one of Jenova's legs in his wake. The rest of the party ran forward just as the battle against JenovaLIFE began.

Astrid was held back by her brother, who was trying to get her away from the battle. "Quit fighting!"

"LET ME GO!!" She screeched, her fingers clawing at his back, "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BASTARD!!"

"HE'S ALREADY GONE, ASTRID!" He roared into her ear, his grip not relenting, "And I refuse to let you fight until you clear your head! You'll just kill yourself if you rush in now!"

She quit fighting and tried to calm down, but her mind was still in a rage; Aerith was gone and it was all Sephiroth's fault. Astrid then stopped to think. 'This is just as much Marcus's fault as it is Sephiroth. Marcus knew what was going to happen!' That in mind, Astrid whipped out the weapon that was easiest to grab; her gun.

Marcus was just relaxing his grip on her to look over his shoulder when she thrust the gun upward, digging the muzzle into the soft skin underneath his chin.

"Let me go or I'll blast your brains out the top of your head." Astrid hissed, glowering at him.

He looked down at her, a bit hesitant, "You wouldn't…" It was more of a question than a statement, and rightly so.

"At this point, do you dare to try me?" She clicked back the hammer.

Marcus stared at her silently for a moment, then his face darkened and he let her go slowly, a scowl forming on his face, "As you wish it."

Astrid watched him as he backed away, her situation growing more and more desperate the farther away he got. Finally, she burst out, "You could have saved her!"

"Hech." He scoffed, narrowing his eyes at her, "I'd rather keep the time stream here solid than worry about a woman who was meant to die." He then turned on the spot, vanishing.

Astrid only stared at where he had been for a short moment before she ran forward, tearing out her sword and jumping into battle. JenovaLIFE was quickly defeated and the group was left feeling empty.

Without speaking, they watched Cloud walk over to Aerith's body and pick her up. They the followed him in a sort of funeral march, walking slowly behind him out of the cathedral. Outside, Cloud walked her into the center of the lake and looked at her for a moment longer before he let her go, watching her as she drifted down into the water.

At the edge of the water, Tifa began to cry and Barret tried to comfort her, tears also pouring down his face. Yuffie huddled next to Red XIII and closed her eyes, holding back a few hiccupping sobs while the feline stared at the water blankly. Cid and Vincent stood in the back silently, the pilot looking a bit misty himself.

Astrid stared at the water numbly, barely feeling the staff she had blindly picked up down in the cathedral. The owner of the staff had fallen and would never return, and knowing this Astrid squeezed the pole until her knuckles turned white.

All around them, sliding through the trees, rocks, and flowers, the Planet, unintelligible in words yet understood by the group in meaning, whispered an elegy.


	31. Rolling

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Rolling)

Back in the giant shell house, everyone sat by the fire silently, sipping hot soup and thinking deeply. What should they do now? Continue the journey, of course, but without Aerith? Would that even be possible? Aerith was the last Centra, and with her gone how would they know what to do? Towards the end, when things started to get more confusing, it was Aerith who pointed them down the right path and led their way, fighting alongside them and smiling. But what now?

"North." Cloud said at one point, bowl tight in his hands and his mako eyes staring intently into the fire, "Sephiroth is headed north. We go further into the Icicle Area."

"That's all well and good," Astrid muttered, finishing off her soup with a scalding gulp, "But what then? Do we take the Black Materia right to him? It is what he wants, right? If anything, we should avoid the north."

"And leave Aerith's death unpunished?" Cloud snapped, glaring up at her.

"And keep the Planet safe!" Astrid snapped back, her tongue lashing, "Or is that not what Aerith would have wanted? You knew her better than any of us, so why don't you correct me if I'm wrong."

Cloud immediately dropped the conversation and went back to staring into the fire.

Several hours later, Astrid stood abruptly and began packing her things.

"What are you doing?" An alarmed Tifa asked when the teen strapped on her weapons and backpack.

Grunting under the weight of her backpack as she tightened the straps, Astrid answered, "You all can sit around all day and do nothing, but I'm going north. Marcus is up there, and I think that whatever lies north will be the end of the line. I might finally get my brother back and we can go home and get out of this place." She paused, then glanced over at Cloud, "Whatever you end up doing, keep the Black Materia in mind." She then turned and started walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Yuffie shouted, joining Tifa by her side, "You're really leaving the group?!"

"It's best you don't have me with you anymore." She answered, not looking back, "With Marcus knowing more about us and our situation than I'm comfortable with, and me being the catalyst for that information, I think it'd be best if I left before he finds something really useful against you. Besides…" She paused, shaking her head, "I don't want any of you to end up like Aerith. Her death was, in part, a result of my inaction, and I refuse to let that possibility happen again. I hope I get to see you all one last time before I leave, so I won't say goodbye. Later." Astrid then walked out the door, happy to meet no resistance.

In fact, she managed to make it to the edge of the town before anyone stopped her.

"Astrid!!"

She turned to find Yuffie and two others coming up the path, the ninja in the lead and waving her arms wildly.

"Astrid, wait!"

Astrid waited for them to catch up, Vincent and Cait Sith coming into clearer view as they got closer. What was going on? "What are you doing?" She asked when they were close enough.

"Coming with you, of course!" Yuffie exclaimed brightly, hopping up beside Astrid.

The older teen stared down at the younger shocked, 'Her demeanor towards me has changed quite a bit.' "What do you mean 'coming with me'?"

"Well," Cait Sith said, licking the back of his palm to groom himself, "We all talked it over after you left and we decided that we didn't like the idea of you traveling alone, so we three elected to go with you. Not that there weren't others," He added hastily, as if afraid of offending her, "But Cloud decided that we would be best. After all, you are responsible for each of us joining the group, to some extent."

Vincent just stood mutely in the back and nodded, crossing his arms.

Astrid looked between them, then sighed and shook her head, "I'd object, but I know you all well enough to know that you won't back down. At the very least I'll say this; this is going to be dangerous, so those of you who don't particularly feel like dying should head back."

The three seemed to consider this seriously for a moment, then Yuffie turned to walk back. Vincent, though, grabbed her by the neck and held her, nodding to Astrid, "We're with you."

She sighed and shook her head, "As you wish." She then turned and continued walking, now accompanied by three others.

When they came to the bottom of a large crag with jagged cliffs and the trail ended, Astrid automatically walked over to the walls and began climbing. About halfway up, Yuffie screamed, "Are you sure about this?!"

Astrid didn't look down but nodded, "Completely. There's a ledge up here." At the ledge, she hefted herself up and looked around, glancing back down at the others, "It levels out here and there's a tunnel just up ahead. We'll be out soon."

"Good." Yuffie grunted, pulling herself further and reaching out with a hand, "Now help me."

Rolling her eyes, Astrid knelt and grabbed the ninja's outstretched hand, ducking slightly as Cait Sith leapt off of a rock and rocketed past her head. When they were all on the ledge, Astrid nodded and turned to the tunnel, "Let's go."

After a quick walk through the tunnel, which got increasingly cold as they went, they emerged onto a white tundra, densely packed snow crunching loudly under their feet and the rising sun reflecting blindingly on the small chips of ice.

"Welcome, folks, to the namesake of the Icicle Area." Cait Sith announced, running out in front of the small group and jumping back and forth between his feet, "Be warned, it gets really cold out here, so suppress all urge to lie down and take a nap!"

"Thanks, Cait." Astrid muttered, walking past the mechanical cat and squinting her eyes.

After a moment of silence, Yuffie grunted impatiently and snapped, "Well, what now?!"

Astrid took a moment to answer, turning back to her group and crossing her arms as she did, "I was just trying to remember a map I looked at a while back…" She paused, then continued, "There's only two more settlements between here and whatever lays north; one is the town Icicle Inn and the other is the outpost of a mountaineer at the base of Gaea's Cliffs."

"Yeah, so?" Yuffie huffed impatiently, earning a glare from everyone in the group. The ninja rolled her eyes, "Well, it is kinda useless information. After all, we'll run into it eventually, right?"

"I was just giving a basic summary of what we're to expect," Astrid snapped, her eyes narrowing at the young girl, "And I suggest you get yourself a coat when we get into town; I refuse to carry your frozen, short-clad corpse across a frozen wasteland because you weren't smart enough to plan out a winter wardrobe."

Yuffie rolled her eyes again, "Whatever." An uncomfortable silence settled over the party.

"Well, then!" Cait Sith shouted enthusiastically, his moogle's hand shooting into the air, "How bout we move on, eh?"

A majority of the walk to Icicle Inn was spent in silence, with Astrid and Yuffie refusing to look at each other, Vincent walking silently between them, and Cait Sith following dejectedly in the back, glancing between the two females every now and then.

As they walked, Astrid kept glancing at the ninja out of the corner of her eye, watching silently as the girl's skin gradually began to take a bluer and bluer tint. When Yuffie's condition finally worsened to where her teeth were chattering, Astrid sighed loudly and stopped walking.

The rest of the group stopped and watched as she slung her backpack across her chest and began to dig through it. After a moment, she pulled out a thick turtleneck and a pair of sweatpants and threw them at Yuffie, glaring at the ninja as she swung her bag back across her shoulders.

"Put it on." She grumbled, rolling her shoulders to readjust the weight, "We'll get you something better in Icicle Inn."

The ninja stared at the clothes silently, then removed her items and pulled the clothes on, reequipping herself when she was done. She then shuffled her feet and mumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

"Don't sweat it." Astrid then pushed the group on.

They arrived at the village near the evening, at which point the temperature was still dropping.

"Take this and find yourself something." Astrid commanded, shoving a wad of bills into Yuffie's hands. Upon seeing the odd looks they were receiving from the villagers, she also added in a low voice, "Take someone with you."

Yuffie nodded seriously, then turned and jumped on Vincent's arm, "Let's go, Vinnie!"

Vincent glared at her and grumbled, "I'll ask you to refrain from calling me that… and I'd rather not accompany you. Too cold." It was a lame excuse, but everyone else figured it was just so he could get away from the girl.

"I'll go with you, Yuffie!" Cait Sith exclaimed, jumping up and down, "I can't feel the cold at all!" As he walked past Astrid, he added lowly in Reeve's voice, "I can also put this thing on autopilot."

Astrid chuckled, then turned to Vincent and sighed, "Well, I'm going to get us some hotel rooms. Where are you…"

"I'll go with you."

She nodded, then turned and started walking. After getting a child on a toboggan to point them in the right direction, Astrid walked into the inn and asked about the rooms.

"We got two left." The man behind the counter answered gruffly, "One with two beds and one with one. What'll ya take?"

"Both of them." Astrid answered, placing the money on the counter. "And when a young girl and a cat riding a moogle come in, could you send them up?"

The man grunted and set two sets of keys on the counter, walking into the back room and sitting in front of a fire.

Astrid took the keys and walked up the steps, heading into the first room she found and throwing off her backpack. Turning it so the front faced her, she then sat down and unzipped the front compartment, pulling out the Book and looking it over. She opened it to the current writing page and started reading.

**_Vincent stared down at her with pity, thinking about all she had gone through it such a short amount of time. Though he did not know her very well, he could tell her problems with her brother were wearing her down. She was thinking along the same lines._**

**_How much more would she be able to take?_**

**_What would happen when they reached their destination?_**

**_Would they be able to save Marcus?_**

**_Or would Astrid loose her little brother?_**

**_Everything was weighing down on her, and she felt so stretched—_**

"That's not healthy, you know." She looked up and Vincent shook his head. "Reading that book to find balance… you'll find nothing but pain in those pages if you use it like that."

Astrid shook her head and looked away, pulling the Book close to her chest. "It's all I have, though. This book… is the only way for me to see what he's doing. What if he dies, the Book records it, but I don't know because I haven't been reading?"

"If he dies, you'll know." Vincent replied cryptically, crossing his arms and looking away. "Why don't you put it away, if only for now."

She hesitated, then closed the Book and shoved it back into her backpack. They were silent for a moment, then Astrid whispered, "You know, I think there's still a chance for him."

Vincent turned and stared at her.

"I do." Astrid nodded and laughed, though it sounded hollow, "Back in the cathedral, where Aerith…" She coughed, then continued, "He tried to stop me from facing the Jenova seed. He also tried to hold me back from going into the fissure in the Temple of Ancients." She paused, then laughed again, "I know it's a bit delusional of me, but I think… I want to thing there's still a chance for him."

"Is that why we're going north?"

She nodded, still not looking at him.

"…What will you do if you save him?"

Astrid blinked, then turned to Vincent and answered, "I'll take him home."

Vincent frowned slightly, "And where is 'home'?" He watched silently as she physically turned away from him, refusing to look at him.

"Somewhere… that can only be reached with the help of a very rare materia that is currently in the possession of Sephiroth."

He was silent.

Astrid turned back and was about to say something when the door burst open and Yuffie ran in, a disheveled Cait Sith behind her.

"What do you think?!" Yuffie squealed, turning on her heel and showing off her new skintight green sweater, black pants, and ankle length tan leather jacket. "Isn't it cute?! It took me forever to find the right colors, but I think it came out okay."

Everyone in the room was silent. Astrid drew attention to herself when she stood and walked over to the ninja, turning her around and looking at the tags on the clothes. Finding herself unable to read the labels, she turned to Cait Sith. "What is this made of?"

The cat tilted his head, then looked at Yuffie and sat perfectly still for two minutes. He then shook his head and came back to life, "Um… mainly rayon and polyester. The jacket is actual leather, but that's it."

They were silent again.

Yuffie yanked out of Astrid's grasp and turned to her, crossing her arms and huffing, "What's wrong with that?"

Astrid sighed and shook her head, "Those aren't exactly 'keep warm' clothes… Didn't they have anything thicker and heavier? Like dense cotton or something?"

"Sure they did." Yuffie answered airily, "But none of it was as cute as this." She then looked around the room expectantly, "So, where am I sleeping?"

Much to Astrid's annoyance, she was forced to settle on rooming by gender; which meant while Cait Sith and Vincent shared the one bedded room, she had to share a room with Yuffie.

'I would have much preferred Cait Sith.' She whined silently, collapsed onto her bed. 'At least he has his 'sleep mode'. Yuffie, on the other hand…' She glanced over at the ninja, who was jumping on her bed. 'Does she run out of energy?'

Her question was answered a moment later when Yuffie stopped mid-bounce and crashed onto her bed, face buried in a pillow and rear-end hiked into the air. She started snoring loudly a moment later.

Astrid shook her head and turned off her bedside lap, whispering into the darkness, "I guess that answers my question."


	32. One More Day

The title of this chapter was inspired by the country song 'One More Day' by Diamond Rio. It seemed… fitting.

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(One More Day)

This wasn't where she was supposed to be.

She was supposed to be back in the inn, rooming with Yuffie.

She was supposed to be under the same roof as Vincent and Cait Sith, separated by a wall and several layers of plaster and paint.

She was supposed to be in a northern town, blasts of snow and frigid air keeping them inside overnight.

But she wasn't there.

Instead, she was laying on her sofa, staring at the back of her brother's head as he sat in front of the television and played on his Playstation. What was going on?

Marcus paused the game, turning and raising a brow at her, "You finally awake?"

As she did was gap at him.

This wasn't the Marcus she had recently come to be acquainted with. This Marcus still had his stupid pudding bowl haircut. This Marcus still had his blonde hair. This Marcus still has his 'normal shade of green' eyes. This Marcus was still her Marcus.

"Marcus…" She pushed herself up and flew across the room, knocking over the coffee table and crashing onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him, sobbing. "Marcus…"

"What's wrong?" He asked, shock evident in his voice. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Astrid sobbed again. He didn't remember. Only she did. It was like it… never happened. "Yeah. That's all it was. A bad dream."

"Assuming that things are back to normal a bit too quickly, aren't you?"

She felt her blood freeze. She didn't have to look up to know that the young Marcus she had been clinging to was gone, nor to know that the person who had spoken to her was the tainted Marcus.

"Why?" She whispered, pushing herself into a kneeling position, "Why can't things go back to normal? Why can't we just… forget it all happened?"

"Because it did happen." He answered sharply. "And it still is. Too much has happened for us to just go back and pretend it never did. We crossed that bridge a long time ago."

Astrid stood and spun around, tears running down her cheeks. "Marcus, I'm so sorry."

Marcus sighed and threw his head back, tossing his greasy grey-blonde hair out of his face. "Quit apologizing. What happened to me is not your fault."

"Still," She muttered, looking at him miserably, "I should have been able to do something."

"You ran through the fire for me." Marcus said harshly, glaring at her, "There aren't many people who could lay claim to that, so knock it off with this self-hating attitude. It's not becoming."

She was silent, taking the opportunity to get a closer look at him. He was dressed exactly like Sephiroth, only his coat had a high neck and zipped up in front. He had black leather gloves on his hands, fingers twitching towards the gun holstered in black leather around his waist. He didn't draw it, though.

Seeing his face was the only exposed skin on his body, she adjusted her vision and studied it closely, using it to gauge his condition. He was paler than he had ever been before, and his skin had a light green tint to it. The whites of his eyes were a dark yellow and were taking a red tint at the edges. Even though he was standing across the room, she could tell he was shaking.

"You're getting worse…"

Marcus blinked, then shrugged. "My pancreas did fail, as I am sure you already know. Several other organs have, as well. On top of that, I have huge gaps in my memory… I think the only think keeping me alive anymore is Master Sephiroth's magic."

She clenched her hands, "You're dying."

He shrugged again, "I have been for a while."

Astrid bit her lip at his indifference. "We can still help you, you know. There has to be some kind of materia or mako that can help you." When he didn't respond, she desperately shouted, "We could even go to Shin-Ra if we have to! Marcus, please—"

"Don't delude yourself, Astrid." She shut her mouth when he looked at her, exhaustion etched onto his face. "I'm dying, and there is nothing that can be done."

"I refuse to believe that." She stated, setting her jaw.

He looked at her for a moment, then shrugged, "Believe whatever you want."

They fell silent again.

Astrid stared around the room for a moment, eyes skimming over then flying back to one door in particular. After a moment, she spoke up. "Hey, you hungry?"

Marcus looked at the door, shrugging, "Sure." Inside of the kitchen, Marcus sat in one of the elevated chairs by the island and set his elbows on the surface, watching her as she moved around the room. "What're you going to make?"

"I don't know…" She looked through all of the cabinets, the refrigerator, and freezer, finally turning to him and asking, "Grilled cheese sound alright?"

He shrugged, "It would sound better with sliced deli ham."

Astrid turned back to the refrigerator, "You're in luck." She dug through and pulled out a Tupperware container. "Half a box left."

Marcus grinned, "Fry it."

Pulling down two skillets and turning to the stove, Astrid turned on all of the burners, greased the bottom of the skillets and set them on the counter. She then pulled out a loaf of bread, a package of sliced cheese, a cube of butter, a butter knife, and a spatula.

As she cooked, she began humming.

"Mom used to do that." When she turned to look at him, Marcus nodded, "Hum while she cooked. She used to do that a lot."

Astrid turned back to the burner and flipped the bread, now silent. After a moment, she asked, "Do you miss them?"

"Who, Mom and Dad?" When she nodded, he sighed, "Not really sure. I can't remember them too well, other than a few flashes here and there. …I think that, at one point, I loved them a lot. I'm not sure how to feel now, though." He paused, watching her pull out two slices of cheese. "Do you remember them?"

"…I try not to." Astrid answered honestly, covering the cheese and ham with another slice of bread and flipping it. "I try not to think about home at all. Don't really like to, these days."

"But you do remember them." He pressed.

"…Do you remember me?" She turned to find him staring at her blankly, "Do you? Other than the fact that I am your sister, what do you remember about me? Anything?"

Marcus was silent for a moment. When the smell of burning bread wafted across the kitchen and Astrid was forced to turn back to the oven, she heard him answer nonchalantly, "Nope, not even you. I think I remember more things about school than I do about you."

Frowning slightly, Astrid pushed the skillets off of the burners and grabbed two plates out of the cupboard above her head, setting the sandwiches on them. "Thirsty?" She asked, grabbing two cups out of the same cupboard.

"Soda sounds good."

Nodding, she poured two glasses and set them on the table, turning back to the counter and bringing the plates next. When everything had been laid out, she sat in another chair across from her brother and they both started eating.

"Tastes good." Marcus said after a moment, glancing up at his sister, "When's the last time you cooked?"

"A few days ago." Astrid answered, pausing to take a drink. "Everyone in the group takes turns on cooking duties, so after a while you either improve or everyone gets sick."

Marcus nodded, looking back down at his sandwich.

After a moment of silence, Astrid looked up at her brother, "Marcus… what do you and Sephiroth do in your spare time?"

"Heh." Marcus scoffed, sneering, "'Spare time'."

"What about when you train?"

He looked at his half eaten sandwich in a preoccupied way, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Does either one of you cook?"

Marcus dropped his sandwich, glaring at her, "What are you getting at?"

"Nothing." Astrid answered quickly, refusing to meet her brother's eyes, "I just… wanted to get to know you a bit better. You don't seem like the same person you used to be, so I thought you might have changed. I was only curious…"

"Well, don't be." Marcus snapped, turning back to his sandwich, "No matter what you ask, I won't answer to anything pertaining to my time with Master Sephiroth. All you need to know is that I am not the same person I used to be. That person was weak."

They fell into another tense silence.

"So, I take it you don't know how to play videogames anymore, then?"

Marcus looked up at her and blinked, dumbfounded. "What?"

Astrid shrugged casually, "Videogames. Since you're no longer have even a trace of the old Marcus in you, I could probably beat you at videogames." Seeing his still shocked face, she shrugged again, "Well, that's what I got out of it…"

"No." Marcus answered determinedly, eyes narrowing at her, "You never could beat me at a videogame, and you still can't. I always have been and will always be better than you at videogames."

"DDR, then." When he stared at her blankly, Astrid leaned across the table and grinned widely, "I challenge you to a game of DDR."

Marcus's grin was even wider than hers as he leaned across the table, "I accept."

They ran into the living room and set up the system.

"Same rules as always." Astrid said as she flipped through the music. "Three games, whoever gets the most wins. I pick the music the first time around, then you, and the last one is random. We're allowed to do everything short of cheating, which includes trying to trip the other player, trying to faze the other player, and restarting the game in the middle of someone's winning streak. No—"

"No moaning if you loose and give it your all." Marcus finished, glancing over at her, "You know, now that I think about it, your 'rules' were really unoriginal."

She shrugged, picking a song, "Well, I had to be basic with everything because you kept breaking the most basic of rules." Her foot hovered over the 'Start' button and she glanced over at him, grinning again, "Ready?"

Marcus grinned in return and knelt slightly, black socked feet sliding across the soft plastic pad. "As always."

"GO!"

They played exactly three games… three times in a row. By the time the ninth game was over, Astrid was breathing so heavily she stopped as the scores were being tallied and fell on her side, body splayed.

Marcus laughed loudly, "Ha! I win again!" She looked up at him as he loomed over her, grinning down insanely at her, "What now?"

"Whatever." She panted, waving him away, "You win…" She then glared at him, "Though I hardly consider it fair play when you use 'Stop' on me."

Marcus smirked, "Not my fault you forgot to figure magic into the rules." He then bent over her and picked her up, carrying her across the room and dropping her on the sofa.

"Thanks." She muttered, repositioning herself and pulling her legs up so he could sit. They fell into yet another silence.

"Astrid."

"Hmm?" She murmured blearily, opening her eyes and rolling onto her back.

"…Tell me about things you and I used to do together."

She looked across her stomach at him with wide eyes, but he wasn't looking at her. "Well," She began after a moment, "When it came to school, math was never your strong point. You would always end up coming to me for help."

Marcus nodded, staring out the window, "…You never were patient with me, were you?"

"No." Astrid shook her head and laughed, "Not in the least. We could never get through a single sitting without me stopping to yell at you at least two times."

He nodded again. "…Now that you mention it, I remember now. You were scary when you were mad."

Astrid nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Hmm, let's see… Ah!" She snapped her fingers, "You liked to go to the park. Whenever Mom and Dad weren't home, you would always nag me into taking you."

"Yeah." Marcus muttered, "And we never told them about it because they wouldn't have liked the idea of you taking me across town. Kidnappers working for the Black Market, or something like that."

"Mmhmm." Astrid nodded, smiling, "You do remember, then…"

Marcus paused before answering, "Far less than I'm comfortable with."

When they fell silent yet again, Astrid closed her eyes and began to doze off. She was just about to fall asleep when he shook her foot.

"Did you leave the stove on?" Marcus asked her when she opened her eyes.

Astrid frowned, "Why?—" That was when she smelled it. Something was burning.

They stared at each other a bit longer, then they both jumped off of the sofa and ran into the kitchen, Marcus pulling her back when flames burst out of the door as soon as it was opened.

They stumbled backwards, watching in horror as the living room was quickly engulfed in flames.

"What do we do?!" Astrid shouted, stepping backwards and coughing.

"We go out the front! Come on!" Marcus grabbed her hand and drug her back across the room, pulling her into the foyer. He let go of her and pulled at the door, which wouldn't yield. He fired a few magic attacks at it, but it remained untouched. "DAMN IT!"

The flames leapt up in the living room doorway.

"COME ON!" Astrid shouted, grabbing his hand and dragging him up the stairs. She stopped when she found the hallway already an inferno. "BACK DOWN!" But the flames had already reached the bottom of the staircase.

"MY ROOM!" Marcus barreled past her and drug her to the room right across from the staircase, opening the door and throwing her in. He then slammed the door shut and ran into his bathroom.

Astrid sat back and pulled her legs to her chest, watching as smoke began to trickle in from under the doorway. 'It's just like that night…'

Marcus ran back into the room, his arms full of soaking wet towels. He took one and rolled it into a thin tube, shoving it against the bottom of the door. He then took his desk and tilted it up on end, shoving it against the door.

"Heavy lacquered oak." He muttered, running over to his sister and throwing a towel over her head. "Should hold it back for a bit." Seeing how still and silent she was, he lifted the towel and looked at her searchingly, "What's wrong?"

"This is just like that night." She muttered, drawing her legs in closer, "Just like the night he came and took you. The night everything changed."

Marcus sighed and dropped the towel back over her face. He then proceeded to wrap more towels around her.

As he worked, Astrid started thinking again. She lifted her hands and pulled the towel away from her face, "What are we doing?"

"Trying not to burn to death, though typically asphyxiation comes before the burns." He answered, throwing towels around himself.

"But why?" She Astrid asked, shaking her head, "This is just a dream, right?"

Marcus glared at her, "I thought you would think differently after that night I visited you in iso."

Astrid frowned, "If you could affect things then, why not now? Can't you get us out of here?"

Marcus thought a moment, then shook his head, "I'd need the transport materia for that, and Master Sephiroth has it."

As he finished speaking, there was a flash of light in front of them. After their eyes had readjusted, they both looked in shock at what they saw.

"Is that?" Astrid began, to which Marcus nodded.

"The transport materia." He muttered, then shook his head, "Master Sephiroth must have sent it…"

After a moment, Astrid poked his shoulder, "Well, are we going to use it?"

Marcus nodded, "Yeah."

They both stood, Astrid standing back and watching as Marcus picked up the materia. He then turned to her and held out his hand. She took it.

"Just think of where you want to go." He squeezed the materia and it began to glow.

"Marcus."

He looked at her, "What?"

She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug, setting her forehead on his shoulder. He had grown so much taller… "I love you, little brother."

He was silent for a moment. "Turn back. Don't come north."

And they were engulfed in light.


	33. Unbreakable Resolve

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Unbreakable Resolve)

"Marcus!" Astrid shot into a sitting position, staring straight ahead and panting. Her hands then flew over her body, checking for burns. There were none, though she was extremely damp…

"Astrid?"

She turned to her left, finding Yuffie and Cait Sith at her bedside and Vincent watching from over them.

"Astrid, can you hear me?" Yuffie asked, grabbing the older teen's hand.

"Just perfectly." Astrid answered, looking down at Yuffie's hand and frowning, "What's wrong?"

"Thank Gaia!" Yuffie leaned forward and pulled Astrid into a hug, shaking her head, "We were so scared…"

"Alright." Astrid patted Yuffie on the back, looking to Cait Sith and Vincent. "What's going on?"

"You wouldn't wake up!" The cat exclaimed, waving his arms, "We called and called, pinched you, dumped water on you, slapped your face, everything short of throwing you out the window! But you just lay there like a statue!"

"It was… unnerving, how still you were." Vincent said, stepping forward, "Other than your breathing and your eyes moving back and forth rapidly beneath your eyelids, you didn't move. You didn't even flinch."

Astrid looked at them with wide eyes, "How long was I like that?!"

"Ever since Vincent came to wake us three hours ago." Yuffie said, pulling back and shaking her head, "Though you may have been like that even before that."

"Huh." Astrid shook her head, "Probably about as long as I was…" She looked at her lap and frowned.

"As long as you were what?" Vincent questioned, frowning.

Astrid blinked, then looked up and smiled, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Well," She swung her legs over the right side of the bed and jumped to her feet, "We'd better get going. We're almost there." She then proceeded to gather her things and lay out a pair of clothes.

At the edge of town, they found out that they had to purchase snowboards to go any further.

"Path's too steep for walking." The man guarding the path said gruffly, shaking his head, "You'll need some form of transportation."

"What about those?" Astrid asked, pointing to a pair of snowmobiles under the trees that looked like they hadn't been used for some time. They looked like they had been crashed…

The man laughed, "Sure, you can use those, if you can get them working!"

They walked over to the machines and inspected them, Astrid turning to Cait Sith and crossing her arms, "Well, what do you think?"

"Me?!" The cat asked, flailing his arms. "Why me?"

"Gee, I wonder?" Astrid asked with mock thought, "Maybe it's because you're a mechanical cat riding a giant mechanical moogle? Surely the person on the other end of the controls knows how to fix a couple of snowmobiles?" She knelt and looked Cait Sith right in his eyes, grinning. 'Come on, Reeve.'

The cat tried to turn away, but was stopped when Astrid's hand shot forward and grabbed its chin. Even with the cat looking at her, she knew Reeve had looked away.

"Look at me now." She commanded softly, the slightest trace of annoyance in her voice. When the cat's head jerked in her hand and she knew he was looking, she said, "Please."

Cait Sith fidgeted for a moment, then sighed, "Fine." He threw her a wry look, "You and your brother are lucky I like you."

Astrid smiled and let the cat go, "I know."

Grumbling, the moogle-riding-cat lumbered past her and got to work on the machines, finishing them in a matter of moments.

"Okay." Astrid clapped her hands and looked at her party, smiling, "Who knows how to use one of these?" She looked to the cat, "Cait Sith?"

"That requires the work of opposable thumbs," The cat answered smartly, showing his hands, "Which I lack."

Astrid nodded, "Understandable." She turned to the next person, "Vincent?"

He shook his head, "I've never had reason to travel north, thus I have never encountered a snowmobile."

"Okay." She turned to the ninja, "Please, Yuffie…"

"Of course I can!" Yuffie exclaimed, raising a fist in the air and smiling, "A good ninja can use everything from boats to trains, skidoos and snowmobiles!"

Astrid nodded, "Good enough. I guess that means I'll be taking the other one." She looked over at the snowmobile with wide eyes, "I just hope I remember how…"

"'Remember'?" Vincent questioned.

"Yeah." Astrid turned to him and nodded, "You see, my family took my brother and I to a mountain resort once and we rode on snowmobiles, but it was my dad driving, not me. I was only five at the time."

The group stared at her, Vincent raising a brow, "So we have the memories of a five-year-old's knowledge of snowmobiles to rely on?"

"Basically."

Vincent sighed and shook his head, "I'll drive, then." He then walked over to the snowmobile and swung his leg over the side.

"Wait!" He looked up at her as she ran up, a frown on her face, "I thought you said you didn't know how?"

"I said I have never encountered one." Vincent retaliated, turning the snowmobile on, "That doesn't mean I don't know how." He saw her confusion and elaborated, "It was required Turk training that we know how to use all vehicles. Now, are you going to get on?"

Just then, the other snowmobile roared to life and shot past them, Yuffie laughing insanely and Cait Sith screaming.

Vincent and Astrid watched them disappear into the forest silently, the latter shrugging, "Guess I am." She then mounted the seat behind Vincent and wrapped her arms around his waist as he ignited the engine. The machine lurched forward and they were off.

The forest around them was oddly silent despite the clamoring of the engine behind them, the sounds of which took a full ten seconds for the denizens of the woods to hear because of the speed the vehicle was traveling at. A single plume of snow shot straight into the air behind them, forcing its way through the branches and arcing into the air.

Quickly, their sylvan trek gave way to snowy slopes, the sun glistening and blinding at every turn. The path went straight for several moments, then suddenly dropped into nothing.

Astrid's grip on Vincent tightened and she screamed as the snowmobile seemed to turn end over end, tumbling down a sheer cliff.

"Astrid! Open your eyes!"

Hesitantly heeding Vincent's command, Astrid opened her eyes and looked around.

They were riding down a steep slope, passing trees, rocks, small mounds, penguins and balloons…

"Where in the hell did these come from?!" She shouted over the wind, batting back a stray balloon that had attacked her face.

"No clue." Vincent answered, not shouting yet still managing to be heard.

'How does he do that?' She thought to herself, burying her head into his back as they brushed underneath a tree and got covered in snow.

The long moments stretched into several hours, then suddenly Yuffie and Cait Sith were riding alongside them.

"There's a split coming!" Yuffie shouted, bringing her snowmobile as close as she dared. "Which way are we going?"

"I don't know!" Astrid shouted back, sitting up slightly and looking over Vincent's shoulder, "I'll have to see it!"

"You won't have very long!" Exclaimed Cait Sith, "Maybe three seconds, five at the most! Choose quickly!"

When the split came into view, Astrid's mind froze. Which way should they go? The junction approached faster than she thought it would, and suddenly she had a split-second to make her decision.

"RIGHT!!" She screamed.

"LEFT!!" She heard Yuffie scream.

The two snowmobiles jerked into different directions, crashing into each other and rebounding so they headed in the opposite direction their drivers intended.

Astrid watched in horror as Yuffie and Cait Sith disappeared down the right track.

"GO BACK!" She shouted at Vincent, grabbing his shoulders.

He shook his head, "It's about to get steeper. We can't turn back."

And he was right.

Within seconds, the snowy valley around them turned into an icy cavern, the incline twice as steep as it had been on the outside.

Astrid clung desperately to Vincent's waist as he fought to keep control of the snowmobile, the sleek metal treads unable to grip the glassy floor. They slid and spun out of control, the screaming of the engine echoing raucously around them, shaking the ice stalagmites and stalactites until Astrid was sure they would shatter.

They emerged from the tunnel in a matter of seconds, the tread finding grip on the packed snow.

Vincent clutched the handlebars tightly, throwing his weight to the side and violently correcting the drifting vehicle. The engine screamed yet again as the whole right side of the body was jerked from the ground, teetering in the air precariously.

Leaning far to the left, Vincent jerked on the handlebars yet again until the nose was facing forward, plowing into the snow and spraying two arcs about them. After a few more shuddering moments, they were back on track.

"Are you alright?" Vincent asked once he was back under control.

"Fine." Astrid squeaked, "Just fine." Her fingers were stuck, petrified in a grasping position and clutching at his cloak.

"…There they are."

She looked over her shoulder and saw Yuffie's snowmobile came into view, their track remerging with Astrid and Vincent's to make one large road.

"Hold on." Vincent ordered suddenly, "Here comes the end."

With wide eyes, Astrid peeked over Vincent's shoulder, screaming as they shot off of a jump and sailed through the air…

* * *

When Astrid opened her eyes, she saw nothing but white. For a moment, she thought she was dreaming, but when the biting cold fell upon her with an almost audible crash, she knew she was awake. Awake and lying under several inches of snow.

She tried to move her shoulders, but found them stiff and held down by packed snow. Gathering all of her energy, she jerked herself up and burst through the snow, immediately covering her head at the stinging wind that lashed her hair to the side of her head and bit into her skin.

"Vincent?" She called out feebly, coughing and calling again, "Vincent?! Where are you?" She could have swore she heard a voice, carried by the wind, call back. "Vincent!" Astrid jumped to her feet, spinning around, "Where are you?!"

"Here."

A flash of red caught her eye and she spun around, sighing when she saw Vincent walking towards her. "Vincent…" She ran to him and made as if to embrace him, but caught herself at the last moment and stopping, looking him over, instead. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." He answered, holding up his hand, "I believe this is yours." It was her backpack.

"The Book!" Astrid exclaimed, taking the bag from his hand and unzipping the front compartment. She sighed in relief upon seeing the familiar black spine. "Thank Gaia." She then looked up at Vincent, smiling, "And you, Vincent."

"Hmm." He silently watched her zip the bag and throw it onto her back, tightening the straps. She shivered at the icy touch of the cold canvas. "It's not too late, you know."

She looked up at him, blinking, "Huh?"

Vincent shook his head, "To turn back. You don't have to go through this alone; we could go back to the village and wait for Cloud and the others."

"I can't, Vincent." Astrid sighed, hugging herself, "Marcus is…" She looked up at him, a lost look in her eyes, "He's dying." Vincent's eyes widened and she shook her head, "He's dying, and I need to be there for him. I don't have time to wait. …Besides, I'm not alone." She grinned at him cheekily, "I have you, Yuffie, and Cait Sith with me."

If he could see the strain in her smile and hear the false happiness in her voice, Vincent made no comment on it, which made Astrid feel extremely thankful towards him.

Rather than say anything else, he turned and started walking, giving her the idea that she was supposed to follow. As they walked, a snowstorm flurried up out of no where, blinding them.

Astrid, though, followed Vincent without question, knowing that he could see where he was going and believing that he wouldn't lead her astray. For several hours through that storm, Astrid followed him knowing he was leading her to her brother, her undying will and unbreakable resolve forcing her onward in hopes that she could find Marcus before it was too late.

* * *

From his bed of rock and rubble, Marcus watched his sister's progress with blatant disappointment.

Why had she followed him?

Why couldn't she just let him die…

"Because that's not the kind of human she is."

Marcus's eyes flew open and he looked at his Master, who was staring down at him with an unreadable expression.

"Your sister," Sephiroth continued, "Is the stubborn, compassionate type; she'll push on and do whatever it takes to find you, no matter the toll on herself. Rather rare kind of human, these days…" He muttered the last part to himself, shaking his head.

"Am I," Marcus croaked, his voice hoarse and weak, "Am I… to kill her… Master?"

Sephiroth looked back down at him, his brow raised, "But of course, such has always been your task since first I took you on as my protégé. I will admit, your…" His nose wrinkled slightly, "'Condition' leads you to be weak and a bit of a burden, but I don't think this shall be of any hindrance to you. After all, your sister will more than likely refuse to take up her blade against you, so that should make it all the easier."

Marcus scoffed and shook his head, rasping, "One of her greater downfalls…"

"But of course," Sephiroth agreed, grinning widely, "After all, she is the 'compassionate' type… and it is their sentimentalism that makes those kinds all the easier to kill, especially if you are someone who is… special to them." With that, Sephiroth turned and walked away.

Marcus sighed, his head falling back into a flattened pile of pebbles and his eyes closing, all of his energy spent talking. 'Go back, Astrid… Don't… come here…'


	34. Into the Heart of the Storm

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Into the Heart of the Storm)

Vincent and Astrid met up with Yuffie and Cait Sith in a small forest not far into the wasteland.

"You guys alright?" Astrid asked, her arms hugging herself tightly.

"I-it's so f-f-friggin' c-c-c-c-cold!" Yuffie muttered, her lips already blue.

Cait Sith shook his head and exclaimed exasperatedly, "We tried to get you to get better clothes! You knew this was coming!"

"Here." Astrid dug a few sweaters out of her backpack, holding them out towards the ninja, "Don't bother worrying about whether they're 'cute' or not, just put them on before you freeze to death."

The girl silently took the sweaters and pulled them on over her clothes, not even complaining when they hung down a bit too low.

"Alright," Astrid said, nodding, "So, I saw we keep heading north. That's the only lead we have right now." She then turned to the party's cute mechanical monstrosity, grinning, "Cait Sith, you wouldn't happen to have a compass, would you?"

The cat grumbled, "Taking full advantage of my features, are you? Fine, fine." He fell silent for a moment, then lifted his hand and pointed in a direction, "That way."

Astrid smiled and petted the cat's head, "Thanks, Cait." She then turned in the direction and nodded, "Let's go."

They crossed the barren tundra forwards, backwards, side-to-side, up and down, left to right, and straight into the ground. Soon, they had encountered sixty-seven beast battles, eleven dead-ends, two loop-de-loops, one crazy blue chick (who turned out to actually be some kind of avatar for a summon materia), and some twisted game with disappearing ice rock skipping stones before they finally faced something that outdid them all; a giant snowstorm.

They stood at the edge of the storm and looked up at it, then looked to the left, then to the right. Finally they looked right at it.

"This is… odd." Astrid said after a moment, then asked no one in particular, "Is this thing… localized or something?"

"Yep." Cait Sith answered, nodding, "This storm only happens here and no where else. It goes on for about ten miles straight ahead and forty-five across. Some kind of… meteorological enclave, as far as satellites can tell."

"That's freaky." Yuffie commented, shivering, "Do we have to go through it?"

The cat shrugged, "Only way to go." His moogle then hitched up some imaginary pants and the cat pointed straight into the storm, "ONWARD!"

The further they pushed into the storm, the colder things got. It wasn't long before Astrid could no longer feel her face, then her fingers, then her feet, and soon it started to eat at her legs.

She finally stopped walking and sank to her knees, staring at the snow listlessly as it continued to pile and swirl.

"Astrid?"

She looked up, staring directly at Cait Sith, "Are we still going in the right direction?"

Cait Sith, who had been getting quieter and quieter as time went on, shrugged jerkily, so jerkily it looked more like he was having a seizure. "I-i-i-i-i-I don't know-know-know-know. My sensors died out-died out a bit back, and my compass has frozen over-over."

Astrid frowned. She didn't like how jumpy Cait Sith's functions were becoming. "Would it conserve more energy and give you a longer life if you shut down some of your unnecessary functions?"

He paused, then nodded, "P-p-p-p-p-p-perhaps."

She nodded, "Then do it." Astrid then pushed herself back to her feet and nodded to her group, "We're almost there… let's keep going." 'How I wish I had more faith in that lie…'

They had only walked a bit further when Yuffie collapsed completely, curling up into a ball and shivering.

"S-s-s-sorry." She stuttered between her teeth, "It's just… t-t-t-too c-cold."

"Come on." Astrid bent down to pick her up, but suddenly the ground rose up to meet her and she, too, was laying in the snow. "Crap." No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move.

Then, oddly enough, she didn't feel cold anymore. Everything around her was light and airy, and her body suddenly warm. She was so comfortable, in fact, that it began to lull her into sleep.

She heard someone calling out to her when she closed her eyes, but instead of answering she let the gentle embrace of warm darkness take hold.

* * *

When she floated back into awareness, she was still too weak to open her eyes. Sounds and light swam in and out of her mind, and she was only able to make sense of bits and pieces of it.

"These storms are only going to get worse. Are you sure…"

"…ave no choice."

"I suggest you… If you don't, you'll end up frozen and…"

"…ap we can use? The snow makes it har… probably ended up going in circles towards the end."

"Sure, I got one. But it'll only guide you as far as… After that… well… let's just say it's a bit too windy for my tas…"

"…ank you for your hospitality. We'll be on our wa…"

"…nytime."

Suddenly, her head throbbed painfully. Astrid's eyes rolled open and she groaned, cutting off the voices.

"Astrid?"

Groaning again as the pain doubled, Astrid rolled onto her side and covered her face with her hands, trying to block out the light. Then, a shadow loomed over her and she lowered her hand, smiling painfully up at who she saw. "Hey, Vincent."

"You're awake." He nodded, "Good." He then paused before saying, "We should probably head off as soon as Yuffie is awake… the storms get worse as the evening progresses."

"Gotcha." She sat up and looked around, relishing slightly in the warmth of the cabin they were in, "Were are we?"

"The house of the mountaineer you told us about back at the cave." Vincent answered, taking a step over to the window and crossing his arms, "You passed out about the same time he came to get us. He brought us here and helped you and Yuffie recover while I defrosted Cait Sith."

Astrid nodded and stood, swaying slightly as vertigo washed over her. "Ugh…" She reached out and grabbed the closest thing, closing her eyes and waiting until the feeling had past. When it had, she got a chance to feel exactly what she was holding. 'Soft… warm… leather texture… crap.' She pushed herself away immediately. "Sorry, Vincent." She muttered, swaying again, "Wasn't paying atten—yeag!" She squinted her eyes shut as she started to fall backwards.

She stopped falling halfway to the ground, opening her eyes to look directly into Vincent's claret eyes. His clawed arm was supporting her back and his other hand was wrapped around her wrist, holding her arm out straight, both holding her as if they were going to burst into the tango at any moment. He was close enough to her for his bangs to brush her face…

"You shouldn't move too fast." He said, standing straight and setting her upright, "You've been asleep for too long and your motor skills haven't recovered."

Astrid nodded, looking over his shoulder and refusing to meet his eyes, "Yeah…"

"Ehem."

The both turned towards the door, where Yuffie stood with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping impatiently.

"Vinnie, could you excuse me and Astrid for a moment? We need to dress." The young ninja asked calmly.

Nodding, Vincent swept out of the room.

Yuffie turned to Astrid and looked at her questioningly, but Astrid had turned away and was digging through her bag. "Well, you and Vincent seem to be getting along quite nicely." The girl commented, opening her own bag and pulling out some clothes.

Astrid nodded, pulling of her sweater and pulling another on. "He's nice." She said, hiking up her pants, "He may not talk a lot, but he understands a lot, and he's a great listener."

"Uh huh." Yuffie watched the older woman strap on her backpack. "You two were looking pretty cozy there…" She grinned impishly when Astrid spun to stare at her. "That was so nice of him to catch you…"

Astrid gapped at the girl, eyes blinking rapidly. She then sputtered, "A-are you insinuating that Vincent and I…"

"I wasn't insinuating anything of the sort!" Yuffie exclaimed, "I was just making an observation." Her smirk, though, said otherwise.

"Whatever." Astrid rolled her eyes, walking to the door, "There is nothing going on."

"It was still a pretty cute moment between you two, though." Yuffie sang, skipping past Astrid and out the door.

Infuriated, Astrid ran after Yuffie and screamed, "VINCENT AND I DID NOT HAVE A 'MOMENT'!" She screeched to a stop, through, when she ran into the room to be confronted by a staring mountaineer, Cait Sith, and…

'Vincent… damn.' Calming quickly, she walked over to Yuffie, who was grinning at her playfully, and pulled the ninja into a hug, whispering, "I'm going to kill you when you have your back turned."

Yuffie just giggled, then turned to the still staring males and grinned, "So, when are we going?"

Vincent shook his head, sighing, "Soon." He turned to the mountaineer and nodded, "Thank you for all of your help."

The man shook his head, "No problem. Just be careful up there, hear? Winds are terrible and you're likely to freeze to death if you don't keep moving." He then held out a folded piece of paper, which Vincent took. "That'll take you as far as the mouth of the crater. Beyond that, though, you're on your own."

Vincent nodded again, "Thank you." He then turned and nodded to the others, "Let's get going."

Outside of the cabin, they were just getting ready to head up the path when they were stopped by the cries of familiar voices.

"Wait!"

"Hold up!"

"Wait for us!"

"Hold yer &# horses!"

Astrid and her small party turned, Astrid smiling as Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Cid, and Cloud ran up, waving to them.

Running forward, Astrid pulled Tifa into a quick hug, then pulled back and was knocked backwards when Red jumped up on her, placing his big paws on her shoulders and rubbing the side of his face against hers.

"We were afraid we wouldn't catch up." He said, jumping back and tilting his head, grinning in his cat-like manner, "Glad we did, though."

Astrid smiled down at him, scratching him behind the ear, "Glad you did, too, Red." She then looked at the rest, smiling widely, "You all came!"

"'Course we did!" Barret shouted boisterously, "As fast as we could!"

"As if we'd let you take on that )#!& Sephiroth by yourselves." Cid exclaimed, grinning.

"Besides," Tifa continued, pulling Astrid and Yuffie into a hug, "We were worried about you."

Astrid smiled at them all again, then regarded Cloud with a half smile. "I take it you still have the Black Materia, then?"

He nodded grimly, "I did take what you said into consideration, but this is…" He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

She shook her head, "I understand." She then turned back to the rest of the party and clapped her hands, "Well, we were just getting ready to head off, but if you want to rest I'm sure the mountaineer would be willing to put up with company for a bit longer." She gestured towards the lodge.

They all exchanged glances, then shook their heads, Cloud saying, "Let's just get this over with." He then turned and continued up the path, taking the map that Vincent proffered as he past.

Sighing, Astrid pulled her coat closer and trudged along with the rest of the rejoined party as they started after their fearless leader. 'Just a bit longer, Marcus… hold on just a bit longer.'

* * *

Marcus threw his head back and screamed as his Master shoved yet another materia into one of the recently cut holes in his arm.

"Quit making such a racket." Sephiroth mumbled, sewing the flesh back together with a 'Restore', "You should be thanking me. I'm giving you more than enough power to take care of the meddlesome sister of yours."

"F-forgive me, Master." Marcus hissed, clenching his hands until his nails slit his hands and made them bleed. He bit back another scream by clamping his teeth down firmly onto his lip, blood running down his chin.

After a moment, Sephiroth powered the materia one final time, mumbling "Done" as the final hole stitched itself shut. He then stood, looking down at his student, "The materia should provide you with the power you need, as well as keep your body functioning for at least six more hours." He turned and started to walk off, shouting over his shoulder, "Get ready."

Marcus watched his Master slip into the shadows silently, knowing perfectly well that his 'Master Sephiroth' wasn't the real Sephiroth, but instead was Jenova posing as Sephiroth until the real one was resurrected.

Slumping back onto the ground, Marcus raised his arm and looked at the gashes on his arms that would form into scars, flexing his hand and watching with morbid fixation as the balls moved around under his skin. He then sighed and let his arm fall to his side.

"Don't come, Astrid." He muttered, wincing as the materia heated up beneath his skin, "Don't come here… please."

"It's too late." The disembodied voice of Sephiroth/Jenova said, the sound echoing throughout the canyon, "She's already here… Why don't you go and greet her?"

Obliging, Marcus pushed and pulled himself to his feet, hand clenching the gun strapped to his side. He only managed to make it a few steps, though, before he fell forward and landed on his chest with a sickening crunch, blood oozing from his lips.

"S-sorry, M-master." Marcus mumbled, closing his eyes, "Looks like I've outlived my usefulness." He then fell unconscious.

"Useless boy." Sephiroth/Jenova snapped, walking out of the shadows and kneeling down by Marcus's body. Marcus winced several times as the recently placed materia was torn from him, leaving holes that bled profusely. Sephiroth/Jenova then stood and started for the entrance of the Whirlwind Maze without a second glance at the boy, "I guess I will have to do it myself."


	35. I Still Remember

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Rayne an Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(I Still Remember)

Motionless, Astrid stared at the entrance to the Whirlwind Maze, watching the wind as it started, sped up, then ceased over and over; a perpetual dance of swirling dust. Though she knew what waited for her on the other side, she couldn't seem to take the first step forward, fearing it would be the first steps of the end.

"Astrid?"

Blinking, she looked at Tifa and smiled, "Yes?"

The martial artist stared at her friend for a moment, unconcealed worry on her face, "Are you alright?"

Astrid nodded, "Fine…" She then shook her head and sighed, "No… no I'm not fine." She turned to the rest of the group, all of whom were staring at her expectantly, and took a shuddering breath. "Marcus… is dying." Seeing the shock registering on her friends faces, she went on, "I… Even if I reach him in before he dies, I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything for him. But… but I…" As her voice grew thick, she paused to cough before going on, "I refuse to give up on him… so I'll press on… Let's go." Turning back to the maze, she walked in.

The path was long and winding, and because she felt too anxious to walk, Astrid broke into a run, which the party was quick to match. Seeing they could still go faster, she sped up, herself. As she ran, she started thinking back…

* * *

"_Let's go, Marcus! We're almost there!" A younger Astrid ran to the top of a hill, jumping up and down when she reached the top. "Yay! I did it!" She then looked back down the hill, shaking her head when she saw her brother still struggling at the bottom._

"_Assi!" He called, tears in his eyes, "Don't weave me bwehind!"_

_Astrid sighed, "Okay, okay, I'm coming." She then ran back down the hill, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him up. "Come on!" She shouted, "We're almost there!"_

_At the top, they both jumped up and down, screaming happily._

* * *

Astrid vaulted over a stalagmite that had broken in half and fallen across the path. She almost didn't notice the first of the black-cloaked things until she was right on top of it.

Stopping sharply, Astrid knelt down beside it, "Why are you here?"

"R… re… reun-ion…" It wheezed, reaching out with white, bony hands, "Must go…" It then swayed and toppled over the side of the path, crashing onto the floor below and dissolving into dust.

Standing again, Astrid resumed running, passing up any other of the things she saw. She didn't have time to pity them…

* * *

"_First day of school! First day of school!" Marcus shouted, running around the house. He then ran into his sister's room and jumped on her, "Come on, Astrid, wake up! It's the first day of school!"_

"_Ugh!" She rolled over, knocking him off of the bed, "Go away. This 'first day of school' won't be any more special than all of the rest."_

"_But I start the __fifth__grade__ today, Astrid!" He exclaimed, grabbing her arm and shaking it, "I've almost caught up with you!"_

"_No, you haven't." Astrid sat up and glared at him, her hair sticking out in odd directions, "You're still five years behind me, now go away."_

"_No!" Marcus jumped to his feet and grabbed her arm, "You're walking me to school today! I want you to introduce me to all of the teachers!"_

_Astrid scowled and glared at him, picking up a pillow and chucking it at his head. "Go away!"_

_He dodged and ran out of the room, laughing, "First day of school!"_

_She stared at the door with a scowl for a moment, but it quickly dissolved into a grin._

* * *

She was forced to stop as she ran up behind a column of the creatures, all of whom where unceremoniously throwing themselves from the path and plunging into the gorge below.

As they moved, they chanted, "Re-un-ion. Re-un-ion. Re-un-ion."

Others chanted, "Seph-ir-oth. Seph-ir-oth. Seph-ir-oth."

And still others chanted, "Je-no-va. Je-no-va. Je-no-va."

One of them turned to her and reached out, grabbing her hands and pulling her close with disturbing strength. Its hood fell back, revealing the ghastly face, which broke into a wrinkled and decrepit grin, "Welcome home, Sister of Brother Marcus." It then fell into the gorge with the rest.

"Astrid." Tifa whispered, grabbing onto her arm, "What are they?"

Astrid shook her head, "Remnants of Jenova." As the rest of the creatures fell away, she ran forward again, plunging though the wind.

* * *

"_How can you __not__ understand this?! I've explained it to you a thousand times!" Astrid screamed, slamming the math book back onto the table._

"_It's not my fault the teacher doesn't explain it!" Marcus shouted back, glaring at her, "He doesn't make any sense!"_

"_If you bothered to use common sense, you wouldn't have to understand him to be able to do it! It's just the area of a circle! Now," She picked up a pencil and scribbled down an equation, pointing to it when she was done, "Area of a circle equals pi times 'r' squared. All you have to do is plug in the radius and multiply it out. Get it?"_

"_Yeah…" Marcus paused, then looked up at her and frowned, "What's a radius?"_

_Astrid stared at him blankly, then slammed her fists on the desk and screamed, "Geeeaaahhhh!" She then started ranting in something that sounded like mixed French and German._

_Marcus looked at her in shock, then looked at the door as it opened. When his parents stuck their heads in and looked between their daughter and their son, Marcus scratched the back of his head, "Hehe… oops."_

* * *

They stood before the final wind gate, staring at it.

Behind her, Astrid registered Cloud giving out orders and otherwise talking, but she didn't hear any of it. All she saw was the wall of wind before her, and all she knew was Marcus was on the other side. That was all she needed to know.

"Astrid." She looked back at Cloud, who nodded to her, "Are you ready?"

She blinked, staring at him.

* * *

"_Astrid?"_

_She looked up from her book, blinking at her brother, "Hmm?"_

_He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks… for helping me today."_

_Astrid scowled slightly, "I refuse to allow some punk brats get the better of __my__ little brother." She paused, then smirked, "The only one allowed to bully you is me. Remember that."_

* * *

She then rest her hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip, closing her eyes and clenching her free hand into a fist.

* * *

"_Marcus…" When he looked at her, he was caught off guard by the serious look in her eyes, "No matter what happens or how things may go, don't ever let anyone take advantage of you. If you ever need help, I'm always here."_

_Marcus blinked, frowning, "No matter what I do?"_

_She nodded, smirking, "Even if you became a serial ax killer, I'd be there for you."_

_His eyes widened slightly, "But… why?"_

_Her head lowered and her bangs shaded her eyes, "Because… we're…"_

* * *

She clenched her eyes shut, "He's my…"

* * *

_Family._

* * *

Astrid looked up, a new feeling of determination rising in her chest. She nodded to Cloud, "He's all I have left of my family… and I'm ready to do anything to set things right. I'm ready."

Cloud nodded in return, smirking slightly, "Then let's go."

And they plunged through the final barrier.

…

"Oh…"

The scene before them was…

"Marcus…"

Terrible.

"MARCUS!" Astrid ran forward and fell at her brother's side, cradling him against her chest, "Marcus? MARCUS?!"

He wheezed slightly and slit open one eye, his mouth twitching slightly, "H…how bad… do I… look?"

How bad…

His skin had lost all color, as if he had been drained of blood, which he more than likely had. There was a huge pool of blood around him, and the small open wounds that covered his body were barely bleeding. His blood was congealing around the edges of the pool, and some of it was beginning to clot thickly against his skin. And his eyes… she tried to focus on just the green of his irises, refusing to acknowledge the other colors that painted his corneas.

His chest looked like it had collapsed slightly, and there was a grating sound echoing inside of it every time he inhaled; a crunch at every exhale. He felt so light she was sure she could lift him with no effort.

She smiled at him, "You look great."

Marcus let out a burst of laughter, which resulted in coughing and bloody foam coating his lips. "Who are you trying to kid; me or you? Because I think you may be failing on both accounts."

"CLOUD! NO!"

They both turned to where the screams had come from, watching as Cloud rose into the air, holding out the Black Materia.

Marcus sighed, "So, Master Sephiroth will get his materia, after all."

Astrid looked down at him, tears forming in her eyes, "I'm so sorry, Marcus. I didn't get here in time to save you from him… and I didn't get here in time to stop this."

"No." Marcus interjected firmly, glaring up at her, "There are two reasons I joined Master Sephiroth, and the first was I was more interested in preserving the original outcome of the story rather than preserving my own life."

"It didn't have to be that way, though!" Astrid exclaimed, pressing a hand to his cheek, "We could have made things better! Things didn't have to turn out like this!"

Marcus shook his head and chuckled, "But this way already had a concrete happy ending… Besides," He looked up at Sephiroth, his eyes betraying his true emotions, "The second reason I joined Master Sephiroth… was because I was afraid of him…"

The ground shuddered violently underneath them and someone screamed, "WEAPON!!"

"Go." Marcus grabbed her hand and shook it, "Go, now. There isn't much time left."

"Then I'm taking you with me." Astrid pulled her brother closer to her, supporting his back and legs, and started to pick him up, only to stop when he screamed.

"It's no use, Astrid." Marcus hissed through gritted teeth, forcing a smile at her, "I'm not making it past this point. This is where my time ends."

Astrid shook her head, firmly stating, "No. You will live! I did not come all this way just to see you die!"

"You knew from the beginning." He said, his already weak voice fading to a whisper, "You knew that the chances of me surviving an encounter with Master Sephiroth were less than zero, and you were right. I'm already dead, Astrid."

"I refuse to accept that!" She shouted, tears trailing down her face.

Marcus smiled bitterly, "Then I'd hate to be you in a few moments…" He coughed, turning his head as droplets of blood flew past his lips. Turning back to her weakly, his eyes slid shut, "Come… closer…"

She did.

"I lied." He whispered, his eyes cracking open slightly, "When I said… that I didn't remember anything about you… I lied. You were… the only person I remembered clearly. I don't think… that I ever forgot you." He smirked at her shocked face, "I still remember." His eyes closed again.

"No…" She shook him, "Marcus, don't go! Rufus is here… Shin-Ra will help you! They'll make you better!" When he didn't respond, she sobbed and cried out, "Marcus, I love you! I'm sorry I wasn't there for you! Please, don't leave me!"

His eyes opened ever so slightly, the smallest of smiles forming on his face. "Forgive me… big… sister." His eyes shut…

And never opened again.


	36. This Hollow Feeling

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(This Hollow Feeling…)

She wasn't sure how she came to be on the floor of the helicopter, but she didn't care.

She couldn't remember the names of the people around her even though she was sure she knew them, but she didn't try.

She didn't understand what they were saying to each other or trying to say to her, but she wasn't paying attention.

All she knew was the small, light body of something that vaguely looked male held firmly in her arms.

All she knew was that… and the emptiness of her own body.

Everything about her felt fake… surreal… as if it had never been, though she was fairly sure she could see it.

But what did senses matter? They lied.

Senses told her that Marcus was still there.

Senses told her that she could feel his body in her arms.

Senses told her that her fingers could still feel the lingering warmth his body had generated.

Senses told her that she could smell blood, and that it was his.

Senses told her that the taste of dirty, unkempt hair in her mouth was his.

Senses told her that she could still see his form, color, and position.

But all of her senses were lying.

This thing in her arms was no longer Marcus.

This thing in her arms was an empty shell.

This thing in her arms was in no way, shape or form a representation of what Marcus was now.

And then it hit her.

Marcus's current form… was with the flow of the Lifestream.

It was then she broke down.

She quickly had the nameless people at her sides, trying to sooth her and take the body from her, but she shook them off and waved them away, pulling the body closer and crying into its hair.

She knew it was sick… but it was all she had, and she wasn't about to give it up.

So she clung to the corpse, giving it her own body heat and keeping watch over it; a sentry of the dead.

When the helicopter stopped moving, calm hands guided her to the door and helped her out, making sure to stay clear of the body in her arms. As she walked, she heard the shouts of familiar voices, though their words were indiscernible. She looked up at them.

They were more people she felt she should know, and was sure she did, but their names and identities escaped her. So, she looked down at the ground and held the corpse closer, blocking out all ensuing calls.

Then she was in a well furnished room, sitting in a comfortable chair in front of a desk. The corpse lay across her lap, her arms still supporting the back and legs.

"Astrid."

Feeling she should respond to this familiar name, she looked up.

A young man with blonde hair and a white coat looked at her closely, either undisturbed by the corpse in her arms or choosing to ignore it.

"Astrid?" She questioned.

The young man nodded, "Yes. Astrid. That is your name. Do you remember now?"

She thought about it for a moment, staring at the papers on the desk. Her name? …Yes, that sounded about right.

"Yes." She nodded, looking up as something else came back to her, "And you're Rufus… Rufus Shinra."

The young man, Rufus, nodded, "Yes I am. Tell me, do you remember anything else?"

She thought about it for a minute, her eyes instinctively falling to her lap. It was then she remembered the corpse… and who it had belonged to.

"Marcus…" She whispered, "He died."

"That's right, Astrid. Marcus died." Rufus stated plainly, though not without sympathy. "We need to take his body now, Astrid. It has to be properly buried. If I have some people, people you know, try to take the body, will you let them?"

Astrid looked up at him, more names coming to her, "Reno, Rude, Elena and Tseng… the Turks."

Rufus nodded, "That's right. I'm going to have the Turks, Reno, Rude, Elena and Tseng, take Marcus so be can be prepared for burial. Is that okay?"

She thought about it for a moment, then lowered her head and nodded, "Yes…" Then there were hands reaching around her, some holding her down and others grabbing the corpse. It was lifted from her lap and taken from her view, and she turned around desperately and watched it as it disappeared out the door, accompanied by a flash of red hair.

"Astrid." When she turned back, Rufus nodded to her, "He'll be fine. You, on the other hand, need to go to the infirmary and get cleaned up. Is that okay?" When she shuddered and hugged herself, Rufus was quick to add, "It won't be alone, though. One of the Turks will go with you, right Tseng?"

"Yes." Hearing Tseng's voice coming from her right, she turned quickly to look at him. He smiled and nodded to her, "Elena will go with you, alright?" When Astrid nodded, he looked behind her, "Elena?"

Something took her hand and she looked to see another hand. She looked up at Elena, who smiled, "Come on, Astrid. Let's go." The woman tugged lightly.

Astrid obliged and slowly stood, taking small steps after Elena. She paused at the door of the office and looked back, then continued on when both Rufus and Tseng smiled and waved her on.

They walked down a few halls and a short set of stairs before Elena stopped at a door, opening it and gestured for her to go in. "Go on, Astrid. I'll be right behind you."

When Astrid walked into the room, she was immediately taken by the arm by a kind, smiling woman in crisp scrubs. The woman led her to a table and sat her down, then began to help her work off her sweater, then her pants. She was then walked to a shower and instructed to clean herself the best she could, but not touch any injuries.

Astrid scrubbed herself quickly, taking the towel she was given when she was finished and wrapping it around herself. She was given a pair of underwear and a medical gown, then led back to the table once she was dressed.

On the table, the smiling woman proceeded to clean any wounds she found, sewing small stitches here and there. Once she was done, the nurse handed Astrid a soft, warm pair of clothes, closing the curtains to let her dress.

Dressed, clean and fresh, if a little sore, Astrid walked out from behind the curtain, greeted by the smiling nurse and Elena.

"Feel any better?" Elena asked, smiling.

Astrid thought about it for a moment, then blinked, "I need to talk to Rufus, right now."

The female Turk blinked at the sudden change, but nodded anyway, silently turning to the door and leading her out. The walk to where the president was was shorter than the last, and it led to a meeting room occupied by all of the members of the board with the exception of Scarlet.

"Astrid." Rufus blinked and watched her walk in, shocked, "I'm surprised to see you up and around so quickly."

She stopped at the end of the table as Elena walked off, nodding to the president, "I want to thank you, Rufus, for your assistance and generosity."

"Think nothing of it." He said, smirking slightly, "After all, I'm not completely heartless." He paused, then asked, "How are you?"

Astrid smiled bitterly, "Numb. Marcus is dead and I have lost my reason for living… I no longer have any direction and now… I'm alone."

Rufus nodded understandingly, shocking a few of his underlings with his openness, "I can imagine… it must be- will be- difficult for you for some time." He paused, then nodded to her, "Was there anything else? I hate to cut this short, but I'm afraid we're in the middle of a crisis at the moment."

"Sephiroth has the Black Materia." Astrid stated bluntly, "And you've captured the only people capable of stopping him. Tell me, what do you plan to do to them?"

"'Do to them'?" Rufus leaned forward, frowning, "'The only people capable of stopping him'? You seem to have a lack of faith in Shin-Ra, Astrid."

Astrid shook her head, "Shin-Ra is good for Gaia in many ways, despite the controversial manner in which you go about doing things, this I will not argue. But you rely too much on your technology and power that you hardly understand. There are some things much better solved with materia and blade than with a giant 'cannon of doom' and a crap load of mako reactors." She leaned forward, placing her hands on the desk, "I respect you to a level, Rufus, but I cannot condone your actions. They won't work."

Rufus leaned back and quirked a brow, "And what makes you think I need your approval to do anything? What can you possibly do?"

"It's not what I will do," Astrid said carefully, choosing her words, "It's what I don't want to sit back and watch you do. I don't want to see your decisions blow up in your face and hurt Gaia and her people. You have power, and I want to make sure that you use it in the way that is best for the planet."

"And what makes you think you are capable of making those decisions?" Rufus asked coolly, frowning. The rest of the board nodded in agreement.

"I know things," She replied, "Things that can make or break your attempts."

"With the help of this, I presume?" Rufus held up the Book, smirking at the shock that crossed Astrid's face, "Forget about it? How irresponsible of you." He calmly opened the Book and flipped through the pages, "I must say, I was a bit surprised, but I knew that you couldn't have obtained all of the knowledge you had on your own. You had to have had some help, and I found it."

Astrid scowled, "The Book is useless for predicting the future, Rufus. It only records the present as it occurs and stores the past in its pages. There is no clairvoyance involved."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. But I am also well aware of the fact that you can change the Book to write what you want it to write. You proved it right here." He turned the Book around and pointed to the page where she had experimented with the Book in Bone Village and got it to tell her about Marcus's condition. Rufus smirked, "I wonder what else it can tell its reader?"

"It won't tell you anything." Astrid informed him coldly, glaring at him, "I am the author of the Book, so I am the only one who can force it to do anything other than record, and even then it can only tell me things that directly affect me."

Rufus nodded, setting the Book down, "I see. The only reason the Book told you about Marcus was because he was your brother…"

Astrid nodded, "And now that he's dead, I no longer have any connection with Sephiroth. The Book is useless to you, so please give it back."

After thinking about this for a moment, the president pushed the Book across the surface of the table. When it reached her, he spoke up, "We need your help, Astrid. The WEAPON have been released and one of them is attacking us here, in Junon. And, since you're here, I can imagine that it concerns you, considering the attacks will affect your wellbeing…"

"Right." Astrid spun the Book to face her and flipped it open to the current page, ignoring the writing and speaking, "There is a WEAPON just outside of Junon and it may attack…"

**SSSSHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Astrid leaned over the Book, reading out loud the words that formed.

_**Astrid… Sapphire WEAPON is preparing to attack… the cannons on top of the city need to be prepared…**_

_**It will attack the area you are in… you should be running…**_

At this, Rufus, Heidegger, and Reeve jumped to their feet and pulled out their phones, calling whoever there was to call to make the preparations for the approaching attack.

While she waited, Astrid turned to Tseng and caught his eye, "Where are Cloud and the others?"

"Your friends Tifa and Barret are being held in containment cells until President Rufus decides what is to be done with them. We were unable to find the others." The leader of the Turks answered, eyes flickering away at the mention of Cloud.

This made her frown, "And where is Cloud?"

Tseng turned away from her and coughed into his hand several times before answering, "He was lost… during the incident at the crater. We were unable to find him."

Astrid felt a shock go through her body. Cloud was dead? …No, not dead. Just missing. But… missing where? Where was he? Was he on his way? Or did something happen to him? Damn, how many people could she loose in one sitting?

"The cannons are ready," Rufus said, snapping his phone shut, "They're just waiting for Sapphire WEAPON's approach."

Heidegger hung up next, nodding to the president, "All ships from Costa del Sol have been grounded. None will leave harbor until we give the okay."

"Measures to ensure the safety of the civilians are in the process of being taken. Even if Sapphire WEAPON should attack before they are finished, they should be well off." Reeve finished, putting his phone in his pocket and sitting back down.

All of the men sat down and began to fill out papers, leaving Astrid standing and unsure of what to do next.

"Rufus?" The man stopped from his paperwork and looked up, blinking. Astrid lowered her gaze, running her hand across the surface of the Book, "I don't mean to press, and I know you have a lot to deal with but… you mentioned something about a …burial? For Marcus?"

Rufus nodded, "That's right. Shin-Ra is going to fund a proper funeral for your brother. If the paperwork is done properly, it should take place in about…" He sighed and flipped his hair back, taking a moment to think before he continued, "Two days time. Is there anywhere in particular you'd like it to be held?"

Astrid looked down at the Book and stared at it, her mind drawing a blank. Typically (or ideally), one was buried near the place one had come to call home… but Astrid and Marcus weren't anywhere near home. They hadn't been for some time. The only place Astrid could even think of as a homestead would be Midgar, in her cell at Shin-Ra headquarters.

But that home was gone. It had been for the past several months. Since then, all of Gaia and any inn she slept in or sky she lay under in a sleeping bag had become her home. And as for Marcus… what had Marcus come to consider home? She didn't know. She knew almost nothing about the person Marcus had become. There was, though, one place…

"The Forgotten Capital." She looked up at Rufus and nodded, "It was the last place…" She choked on her words, tears suddenly pricking the corners of her eyes. She coughed and shook her head, then closed her eyes and nodded, "The Forgotten Capital. If you would…"

Though she couldn't see him with her eyes closed, Rufus nodded anyway. "Alright. I'll inform the team in charge of it immediately. Services will be held in two days, at the Forgotten Capital. Now," He stood, gathering his papers, "It would probably be a good idea to do what the Book told us to do and relocate ourselves before this room is destroyed."


	37. The End of the Beginning

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(The End of the Beginning)

The helicopter landed on the sandy grounds just outside of the Forgotten Capital and the blades had almost completely ceased their rotations before the side doors finally opened and the passengers began to exit.

Rufus Shinra came first, garbed in his usual suit and jacket combo, though today they were pitch black, hinting at the days processions.

Reeve and Hojo came next, the only two members of the Board who had agreed to attend. They, too, wore black suits, and Hojo looked noticeably cleaner than he usually did.

The Turks followed, all of them stepping out before turning back and leaning in. Reno and Elena started to step back, pulling something long and black out of the helicopter. Rude and Tseng grabbed the back end of the box and picked it up, holding it shoulder height with their team mates and walking a short ways before stopping.

Finally, one last person stepped out of the helicopter. Astrid set her feet on the ground and stood by the door of the helicopter uneasily, gripping onto the side of the door with white knuckles.

Seeing her swaying, Rufus walked back over to her and held out his arm. After a brief pause, Astrid took it and they started walking

"I know that you're angry at me for not letting your friends attend," Rufus said, smirking slightly at the bruising grip she had on his arm, "But I had no choice. I couldn't risk any escape attempts. I actually shouldn't be risking an assassination by having this out in the open, but…" He glanced down at her and his smirk grew, "We do like you, after all."

Astrid scowled, glaring back up at him, "You could have at least let me see them. Seriously, sitting in your office and staring out the window all day just increases my desire to escape in and of itself. I'd be more willing to stay if I could just talk to them every now and then." She paused, her glare turning skeptical, "Why do I have to sit in your office all day? Isn't there, like, a holding cell or a guest bedroom you can lock me in?"

Rufus rolled his eyes, then stiffened and looked ahead soberly.

Astrid looked in front of them, her body jerking at what she saw. They had arrived at their destination.

Around them was a white, sandy expanse. To their left, they could see the pointed shell tops of the Forgotten Capital and to the right was a forest, but it was what was in front of them that was catching everyone's attention. There, in the middle of the sandy expanse, stood a huge, spiny bare tree. Under that tree was a neatly dug rectangular hole.

As they approached the tree, the ground quickly turned from sand to clay, then to hard dirt. They gathered around the hole, the Turks placing the casket beside it.

"Are you completely sure that this is what you want done with him?" Astrid turned to Hojo, who was staring intently at the casket, "I'm sure that Sephiroth left many spells inside of him that would be… useful."

Astrid stiffened and glared at the scientist, stating coolly, "If I won't let you experiment on my living body, what makes you think you'd be able to touch my brother's dead one?" When the man shuffled back, muttering to himself, Astrid turned to Rufus and growled, "Why did he have to come?"

Rufus shrugged, "He was the only other member of the Board who agreed to." He then looked at her closely, "Are you ready?"

She nodded, "Yes." She then stepped forward and stood beside the coffin, running her hand across the sleek, lacquered surface, its color akin to the dress she was wearing. Taking a shuddering breath, she turned back to the few members of the procession.

"It's funny," She started, smiling in a way that hinted at bitter humor, "This is the first time in eight years I've worn a dress… After someone purposely spilled juice on me the last time I wore one at a school dace, I swore I'd never wear one again… unless it was for a special occasion. I just… never figured the occasion would be my little brother's funeral." Her smile and voice wavered, but she coughed lightly and went on;

"Twelve years, eight months, and four days ago, Marcus Cray born to my mother and father, Samantha and Tristan Cray. I was only seven at the time, so I didn't really understand what it meant to have a younger sibling… I actually thought we were going to leave him at the hospital." She and a few others laughed, and she continued when it faded, "But, when I started to accept the fact that he was apart of the family… I started to realize something. Something I wouldn't understand until years later.

"Marcus was my little brother. Nothing was ever going to change that. I may not have liked it, but that was too bad; he was there to stay. But… having a little brother meant more for me than just the title of 'big sister'; it meant something on a deeper, less impersonal level." She paused, then smiled and continued, "It meant annoyances; it meant moments of irrational anger; it meant unmanageable trouble; it meant the loss of peace; it meant nothing fights… It also meant family, unity, trust, and unconditional love.

"When I left Midgar to begin my search for Marcus, I left thinking that it was all about saving him and taking him home. I thought it was about preventing whatever horrible fate he was destined for as long as he stayed with Sephiroth. I thought it was about finding him and ending this nightmare that I felt I never deserved to begin with… but I was wrong. Saving Marcus didn't mean taking him away from what he believed… saving Marcus meant following him and letting him know I was always there until the end." She paused again, shaking her head;

"Just as a parent should never have to bury a child, an older sibling should never have to put a younger to rest, but this… is what Marcus wanted. He believed in what he was doing; he believed that progress could never be made by taking the easy way out, so he let things play out the way they were supposed to… at the cost of his own life. And, even though I may not like how it ended, I understand what he did and believe it was the right thing. And, in commemoration for the life he gave for Gaia, I will do the best I can… to live for the both of us." She smiled;

"I only knew Marcus for twelve years, but it was long enough for me to know that he would be mad at me for letting this stop me from living." Astrid then turned to the coffin and smiled down at it, setting both hands on the surface and whispering, "I'm sorry, Marcus, and I'll try. I'll try to do what you would have wanted me to do." She lowered her hands and backed away slowly.

The Turks came forward and stood at the corners of the coffin, wrapping ropes through the handholds and lifting it into the air. They then carried it over the hole and started to lower it, black lacquer shining in the sun until it disappeared into the hard earth. The four pulled the ropes out… and filled in the grave. Reno and Rude set a tombstone at the head of the grave, everyone remaining silent as Astrid tried to read the inscription. When she found she couldn't though, she sighed and shook her head.

"Marcus Cray." She jumped and turned to look at Rufus, who was staring at the tombstone, "Born unknown, died in the winter. Powerful warrior, beloved brother. 'Return to Planet and Rest in Eternal Light'." He paused, then glanced at Astrid and shrugged, "It was an old Ancient saying, I think. Seemed appropriate." When she turned to the grave and lowered her head, he patted her shoulder, "We'll wait for you." He then turned and started walking away, "Alright, this service is over. Let's let her have a moment."

When she was alone, Astrid fell to her knees and burst into tears.

Not much later, Rufus frowned at her as she approached.

"You sure you're ready? If you need more time, we can always wa—"

"Thank you, Rufus." She looked up at him and smiled, her lips stretching tautly across her tired face, making it more of a grimace, "I can't… I'm done here… for now."

Rufus nodded and turned back to the helicopter, opening the door and shouting, "We're taking off!" He then climbed in.

Astrid followed him and shut the door, collapsing in her seat and sighing heavily.

"Now what will you do?" When Astrid cracked her eye and looked at Elena, the woman lowered her eyes and bit her lip, "Before, you were only going after Sephiroth because of Marcus, right? So… what now?"

"I don't know." Astrid answered honestly, closing her eyes, "I can't very well go home without him… I couldn't face Mom and Dad knowing that his death was, in part, my fault, so I won't even bother trying to get back the materia…" Her eyes snapped open and she shot up, "The materia…"

"What?!"

Astrid looked at them with wide eyes, "The teleportation materia… it can take Sephiroth to wherever he wants… The reason he came after Marcus and I was because we're… special. And where Marcus and I lived, Sephiroth hinted that there was a high possibility that everyone there could be special like us. If I don't get that materia, Sephiroth could…"

"Get others like you and your brother." Reeve finished, his eyes widening slightly.

She nodded, "And the cycle would start all over with another family."

Silence settled over the occupants of the helicopter, broken when Hojo spoke.

"Where exactly," The man began, looking at Astrid suspiciously, "Do you and your brother come from? What makes the people of your home so 'special' that he can't use other Gaians?"

Astrid glared at Hojo, her eyes narrowing, "I don't particularly find that to be any of your business or concern. All you should worry about is how screwed we'll all be if Sephiroth brings another person here like he did me and trains them to succeed him."

Hojo frowned, then turned away and faced forward, a contemplative look settling on his face.

'I hate it when he gets that look.' Astrid scowled and faced forward, crossing her legs and her arms. She then glared down at the dress she was wearing when her feet got caught up in the material, "I can't wait to get this fucking thing off! I hate dresses!"

"That's surprising." She looked at Reno, who was sitting on her immediate left. He looked down at her and grinned, "Because I remember a particular Senior Grunt by the name of 'Zoë' who I thought would have looked particularly stunning in a dress." He paused, then grinned, "And I do believe I was right."

"Oh, come ON, Reno!" Astrid exclaimed, glaring at the man and smacking him on the back of the head, "Right after my brother's funeral?! Couldn't you have at least waited until tomorrow to have said something?!"

"Sorry, sorry," Reno smirked apologetically, raising his hands in surrender, "Just thought I'd lighten the mood." He and the rest of the Turks, though, chuckled at the memory while Astrid pouted and Rufus, Reeve, and Hojo watched in confusion.

Just then, the helicopter dropped sharply and alarms sounded, red lights flashing. Astrid, who had forgotten to buckle her seatbelt, slammed into the roof and fell back on the floor.

"Astrid, here!"

She grabbed a leg that was suck out and held on desperately, clenching her eyes shut and pressing herself close to the floor.

Then, as suddenly as the plunge had begun, it ceased, and Astrid found herself prying her hands off of the leg and standing shakily. She looked up at her savior and blinked, a bit surprised. She had been expecting it to be one of the Turks.

"Thanks, Rufus."

The president scowled and pointed to her seat, "Sit and buckle yourself in." As she complied, he picked up one of the headsets that had fallen askew from the floor and spoke into the microphone. "What happened?" He demanded stonily.

"A shockwave, sir." The pilot answered, clearly shaken, "There's… there is something huge in the sky, sir, that appeared during the wave. Whatever it is, it's large enough to create a sonic boom that affected us from here, and it can't be closer than forty miles!"

After thinking about this for a moment, Rufus spoke back into the microphone, "Get us to Midgar, now." He then looked at Astrid and nodded his head halfway, "Any insight?"

She smiled bitterly and shook her head, "There's only one thing it could be, and I don't need the Book to tell me what." She paused, then said, "Meteor."

On top of the Shin-Ra building in Midgar, Astrid, the leaders of Shin-Ra, and the Turks stood at the edge of the roof and looked up, staring at the black ball of rock that was hurtling towards them, it's tail dying the sky around it all shades of colors from purple to blue.

Beside Astrid, Elena leaned closer and whispered, "Where did that come from?"

Astrid shook her head and frowned, "Sephiroth summoned it using the Black Materia. That is the Black Materia's purpose; to summon Meteor." She glanced at the Turk, her brow furrowing, "You didn't know?"

"No." Elena answered, shaking her head. She then asked, "How bad… will the damage be?"

Astrid paused, taking a moment to look back up at Meteor before answering, "Devastating. Wherever it lands, chances are anything within a fifty to eighty mile radius will be destroyed. It all depends, though, on what exactly it crashes into and how much of it breaks off in its entry to the atmosphere." She paused, then glanced at the Shin-Ra employees, "And what measures are taken to slow it." She frowned at Rufus, who she could tell was already formulating a plan, "I'm probably not going to like whatever it is your planning, am I?"

Rufus glanced at her and raised a brow, "Does it matter if you like it or not?"

"I've made things hell for Shin-Ra before, Rufus," Astrid replied, crossing her arms and looking at him coolly, "Don't think I won't do it again."

He smirked and flicked his hair back, "Then we'll have to take measures to prevent that, won't we?"

Her eyelids closed over her eyes halfway and she regarded Rufus cynically, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I have my ways." He snapped his fingers and pointed to Astrid, "My Turks, if you will."

The next thing she knew, Astrid was in the air and thrown over Rude's shoulder.

"Let me down now, Rude!" She screamed, pounding on his back, "This is so unnecessary! I have working legs!"

"That you would 'work' right out of the building," Reno said, walking up behind Rude and grinning at Astrid, "Sorry, but we can't let that happen."

"I will end you!" She swiped out with her hand, growling when Reno lazily ducked and straightened, his grin wider than ever.

"Nice try."

Rufus and Tseng walked up behind them, the president grinning at Astrid mockingly, "I think it would be better if we put her in one of the guest bedrooms in my apartment. At least then I don't have to worry about her escaping." He then glanced at Tseng, "Make sure that measures are taken to block off all air vents and other possible escape routes."

Tseng nodded, "As you wish." He then faced Rude and said, "To the President's floor, Rude."

Rude nodded.

Stopping dead in her tantrum, Astrid looked at Rufus and frowned, "You have an entire floor to yourself? Why? You can't honestly say you use all of that space."

Quirking a brow at her, Rufus replied, "I use enough of it. Dark Nation uses the rest."

Astrid quirked a brow in return, "Dark Nation?" She remembered Dark Nation… she remembered the hellcat well. While she was in the science lab, Astrid met Dark Nation on several occasions. There was one thing, though, that stood out in her mind more than anything… "You know your cat doesn't like me, right?"

Rufus smirked, "I know. That's why I'm leaving you with her when I head back to Junon; she'll make sure to keep a sharp eye on you."

"Oh, that's cruel." When Rude began to descend the stairs, Astrid squirmed uncomfortably as his shoulder bore into her stomach at ever step. "Can I walk now?!" She finally snapped, thrashing again, "It's not like I have anywhere to run!"

When Tseng sighed, Rude grunted, stopping and dropping her onto her feet. Astrid spasmed a bit, then shook it off and continued walking down the steps, walking into the first elevator they came to.

Rufus and the Turks followed her shortly, the rest of the Board wandering off to their respected apartments. When the door slid shut, Rufus took out a cardkey and slid it through a slot below the buttons.

"_Identification accepted. Welcome home, President Rufus._"

When the elevator reached the floor, Rufus walked through the doors first, only to be pinned to the wall when his giant, midnight black/blue hellcat, Dark Nation, pounced on him.

"Hey, Dark." Rufus smirked down at the cat, scratching her behind the ears, "Sorry I was gone so long."

The cat sniffed, then jumped back and looked at the others who had come in with her master. Her intelligent blue eyes skimmed over the Turks quickly, immediately recognizing them. They came to a sudden halt, though, on Astrid, flames flickering in the back of the gaze.

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

"Dark Nation," Rufus said slowly, noticing the cat's muscles flexing in her legs and jaws, "Do not atta—" He was cut off when the cat growled lowly.

Astrid, who was staring at the hellcat with wide eyes, took a steady step back when the cat crouched, tail flicking through the air in sharp arcs. She then raised her hands slowly, grinning nervously, "Hehe, hey, Dark Nation. I see you remember me. I'm flattered." When the cat growled again, Astrid took another step back, "Listen, I know you don't like me, but I was hoping we could be friends…" Astrid knelt slowly, holding out her hand, "Whaddya say, pal?"

Dark Nation looked between Astrid and the hand slowly, reaching out with her neck to sniff it. Blink. Sniff. Stare. Sniff. …Sniff.

Astrid smiled, anxious, "Well, I guess this is a star-rraaaah!"

Dark Nation pounced, pinning Astrid to the ground and biting into her shoulder.

"DARK NATION!"

"NO!"

Rufus and the Turks leapt forward and grabbed the hellcat, trying to pull her off. They stopped, though, and pulled back in confusion when Astrid started to laugh.

She was still pinned by the cat, but clearly not in a lot of pain. "She's hardly biting." Astrid explained, wincing slightly, "It's more… play attack than anything. Ouch!"

Dark Nation growled a bit, her jaws opening and closing gently yet firmly on Astrid's shoulder. The cat then pulled her head back and looked up at Rufus, blinking and letting out a low yowl.

Rufus shook his head, sighing angrily, "Dark Nation, that was a bad thing to do. I was afraid I was going to have to replace the carpets, and you know you're not allowed to maim people in the living room." He said all of this, though, with a smirk.

Shaking her head, Astrid stood, "I guess that means we're friends, now." When the cat's eyes flashed at her and a growl echoed through the room again, Astrid pulled back and scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "Or maybe I'm just tolerable."

Rufus showed Astrid to her room and lay out a few rules, but Astrid was barely listening. She stared out the living room window at the setting sun, her mind reeling with everything that had happened over the last few days.

'And it's just starting.' She though, shivering, 'Sure, it's been almost a year, but things have changed in that time. I'm not just here for this journey… I'm here for life.'

Even as Rufus noticed that Astrid wasn't listening to a word he was saying, she was replaying every moment of her nine-month-long initiation to the world of Gaia: Her new home.


	38. Time for Reflection: Not

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Time for Reflection… Not)

"Alright, so we'll be gone from anywhere as long as a few days to a week and a half. No escape attempts, no assisting in terrorism, no lighting things on fire, no using materia to blow up my stuff, and do not touch the plasma."

"Owwwwwww-uh." Astrid whined, glancing at the slot in the ceiling from which said plasma descended, "But it's such a nice TV." She glanced at Rufus and smirked, "I bet it has great reception."

"No. It has excellent reception." Rufus corrected blandly. He then continued, "Emergency contacts are on this." He handed her a new PHS, "There are numbers on there for me, the Turks, and Reeve. Don't use it unless it's an emergency. Dark Nation will be here, so don't think about doing anything stupid."

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Yes, Mommy." She then crossed her arms and pouted, "Are you leaving me with a bedtime, too?"

Rufus quirked a brow, "Eight thirty. And I'm not your mother."

"Who are you, then? The imperialistic husband that graduated from Little Tyrant Academy with perfect marks? Fine." She leaned forward and bumped her cheek against his, the corner of her mouth brushing his skin. Beneath her touch, Rufus jerked. She giggled and put on her valley girl accent, "Good luck, honey. I love you!" She thought about it, then bowed mockingly and asked, "Or should I call you 'führer'?"

Rufus just stared at her, his face blank.

Astrid frowned, "Rufus? Hello?" She waved her hand in front of his face, "Anybody home?" When he still didn't answer, she frowned and stared at him.

"What?" Rufus asked after a moment, blinking and shaking his head.

Astrid sighed, still frowning, "Never mind. Hey…" She thought suddenly, "You never did tell me what was going to happen with my friends."

"I will… later." Rufus turned abruptly, walking into the elevator and pressing a button, "Remember the rules and do not prank call any of the members of the Board."

"Hey, quit avoiding the question!"

He still didn't look at her as the doors closed and he was blocked from her view. And with that, Rufus was gone.

"Huh." Astrid crossed her arms and looked across the room at Dark Nation, who had been watching them from over the back of the sofa. "What do you suppose made him act like that, Dark?"

The hellcat blinked, then yawned and her head disappeared beyond the back of the sofa, presumably to lie down.

Astrid sighed and stared around the room for a moment, then ran for the sofa and jumped, sailing across Dark Nation and crashing onto the parallel sofa. When Dark Nation lifted her head and yowled, Astrid laughed and snuggled into the couch. She froze for a moment, then snuggled deeper.

"Jeez… these couches are comfortable!" She rolled onto her stomach and grabbed a pillow, hugging it, "This is even better than my guest bed… I am so sleeping here!" She glanced over at Dark Nation, who was staring at her. "What do you think?" She asked, rolling onto her side, "Would the President be angry if I slept on the couch?"

Dark Nation just rolled her eyes and set her head back down on the cushion.

Sighing, Astrid rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, thinking about how Rufus had seemed… detached before he left. "Was it something I did?" She pondered aloud, "Or maybe something I said? I'm not sure… unless he was touchy about me calling him a tyrant, which I don't see why he would be… he kind of is."

Dark Nation, being a hellcat, didn't say a word.

Astrid sat up and stared at the cat, "The only company he left me is you… and you can't talk." After a pause, she sighed and set her head in her hands, "Curse you, Rufus Shinra. Curse you."

Then, Astrid jumped when something pinged loudly and voices flooded the room. She looked above herself, blinking at the sight of a large, working flat screen plasma descending from the ceiling. Looking back at Dark Nation, she blinked when she saw the hellcat's paw on the remote.

"You know, Rufus said that I couldn't touch the plasm—a…" She grinned, "That's right… he said I couldn't touch the plasma… he never said anything about you."

Dark Nation blinked, then tilted her head and lay back down, closing her eyes and going to sleep.

Astrid turned back to the TV, watching the program that was on.

"_Greg… Greg, please!" Pleads a redheaded woman, bowing over the body of a man, "Please, Greg, don't leave me! I… I never got the chance to tell you… I love you! You can't die!"_

"_I'm not dead."_

_The woman stands and turns, gasping at the sight of a man who looks exactly like the man on the ground standing in the doorway. The man in the doorway opens his arms, "Sydney…"_

"_Greg!" The woman runs into the man's arms, only to freeze when he wraps them around her. She looks back at the corpse, "Then… then who is that?"_

_Greg shakes his head, "My evil twin, Gred, but that's not important." He spins her to face him, grabbing her chin and tilting it up to his face. "Did you mean what you said?"_

"_Yes, Greg." Sydney says breathlessly, "I love you."_

"_And I you." He closes the space between them and kisses her passionately._

"Holy Materia!" Astrid screamed, falling off of the sofa, "Gaian soap operas! Oh, the inhumanities!" She promptly sat back up, though, and started watching again

An hour later, Astrid left the living room and headed for the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and digging through the contents.

"Salad… some kind of bean dip… something that vaguely looks like horseradish… so moldy it gained its own life-force… a giant glob of I-don't-even-want-to-know… half eaten burrito… pocky…" She froze, then looked back. Yep, it was definitely a box of pocky. "Don't know why it's in the fridge, but I don't care. POCKY!"

The box of pocky was full one second, empty the next, and Astrid was staring at her chocolaty, empty hands, blinking.

"Where did all the pocky go?" Then, when she tasted remnants of chocolate in her mouth, she sniggered, "I remember now." But she was still hungry. "Well, beyond the pocky, the refrigerator was a no-go, so I'll try the freezer!"

Upon opening said freezer, Astrid stared at it with wide eyes.

"HOW MANY BOXES OF ICE-CREAM CAN ONE MAN NEED?!" She dug through and around the ice-cream, pulling out a box of frozen burritos a minute later and striking a victory pose. "Victory is mine!"

Grabbing the largest plate she could find out of the cabinet, Astrid dumped the entire box of frozen burritos onto the plate and threw it into the microwave.

"Hmm… I'd say about… eleven minutes." She poked the buttons and started the microwave, then skipped out of the kitchen and headed for her room. "These don't need to be here." She pulled the comforter and the pillows off of her bed, bundled them up, and skipped back into the living room, making out a bed.

BeepBeepBeep

"Yay! Burritos!" Astrid ran into the kitchen, emerging a moment later with the burrito laden plate and a triumphant grin on her face. "And now, to officially initiate my week long lazing period!" She flopped down on her bed on the sofa, balancing the plate on her stomach and grabbing a burrito.

She managed to go a record time of lazing like this… four hours.

"Oh, materia!" She cursed, throwing the empty plate away from herself and hiding her face in her hands, "I can't do this! I need something to do!"

Just then, the TV pinged and the picture changed. Astrid looked up, freezing at the face of Rufus Shinra.

"Astrid." He said, "It's eight thirty." On cue, a digital clock appeared in the corner of the screen, and it did, indeed, read eight thirty. Rufus pointed to it, "It's time to go to bed."

"What are you, my mother?!"

"And no." Rufus said, his eyes narrowing, "I am not your mother." The screen went black and every light that was on in the apartment turned off, doors slamming shut and locking.

Astrid blinked in the pure darkness around her. "That fascist jerk. Leaving me prerecorded commands…" She did, though, crawl under her blankets and lay down, falling asleep a short time later.

The next morning, Astrid woke to a pair of royal blue eyes right in her face and a black paw poised in the air.

She blinked, "Don't do it, Dark…"

The cat thought about this for a moment, tilting her head, then blinked decisively and smacked Astrid across the face. Dark Nation was gone in a flash, bounding over the furniture and tearing out of the room, claws digging into the carpet.

Astrid sighed and rubbed the now sore spot on her face. "She's been hanging around Rufus too long."

Jumping to her feet, Astrid stretched her arms over her head and twisted her body, the line of her spine cracking rancorously.

She sighed, "Why, oh why, does my spine hate me so?" Sniffing the air, Astrid gave herself a once-over. "Body… needs… shower." She thought about it, then grinned, "If the guest shower was as large as it is, then what is Rufus's like?"

And with that, Astrid's day was decided; she was going to raid Rufus Shinra's bedroom.

"First, the closet."

The closet was filled with… white suits… hundreds of white suits. What were you expecting, a fluffy pink rabbit costume? …Actually, that would be pretty funny.

But, unfortunately, there were no fluffy pink rabbit costumes, just a bunch of white suits.

"Well, that's boring." Ditching the closet, Astrid ran across the room and knelt down, opening the dressers, next. "Since it's typical for the top drawer to be reserved for underwear, I'm going to avoid that drawer and open the bottom one!"

And so she did… finding a load of pants and sweats.

Astrid blinked, "So he does have clothes other than his suits!"

According to the fine layer of dust that covered the top layer of clothes in the drawer, though, Rufus hadn't worn those clothes for a while.

"What a waste."

Smelling herself again, Astrid ditched the drawers and ran into the bathroom, gapping at her surroundings.

"EVERYTHING IN HERE IS MADE OF BLACK MARBLE AND GLASS! HOW MUCH IS HE WILLING TO BLOW ON A BATHROOM?!"

_"EVERYTHING IN HERE IS MADE OF BLACK MARBLE AND GLASS! HOW MUCH IS HE WILLING TO BLOW ON A BATHROOM?!"_

_"EVERYTHING IN HERE IS MADE OF BLACK MARBLE AND GLASS! HOW MUCH IS HE WILLING TO BLOW ON A BATHROOM?!"_

_"EVERYTHING IN HERE IS MADE OF BLACK MARBLE AND GLASS! HOW MUCH IS HE WILLING TO BLOW ON A BATHROOM?!"_

_"EVERYTHING IN HERE IS MADE OF BLACK MARBLE AND GLASS! HOW MUCH IS HE WILLING TO BLOW ON A BATHROOM?!"_

Astrid blinked, "Wow… an echo. Nice." It was then Astrid's eyes focused in on the biggest bathtub she had ever seen. "You could fit twelve people in there… and I get it all to myself!"

The water was turned on as hot as it could go, every bottle of bubble bath was squirted in, half a box of Epson salts as poured, and eight shampoos and eight conditioners were lined up on each side of the tub.

Astrid then jumped into the shower. "I hate baths." When she got out, the bathwater was still steaming. "Perfect." She grinned evilly and ran back into the bedroom, going through Rufus's closet and pulling out a materia. "Not a good place to hide your materia, Rufus."

Materia in hand, Astrid skipped to the bedroom next door, grinning down at its inhabitant.

"Hello, Dark Nation."

The hellcat, who had been eating some of her kibble from her self-serving cat bowel, looked up at Astrid and blinked. "Meow?"

Astrid lifted her hand and curled her finger, "You want to come with me for a moment?"

Surprisingly enough, getting the ninety pound hellcat into Rufus's tub proved to be easier than she had expected, because Dark Nation apparently like baths.

Astrid shrugged when the cat bound past her and jumped into the tub, throwing the 'Stop' materia over her shoulder. She then walked back into the bathroom and knelt down by the tub, scratching the cat behind the ears and smiling, "I'm going to give you the bath of a lifetime, using all of Rufus's bathing products."

After giving the cat's coat a thorough scrub with the body wash, she moved on to the shampoos and conditioners.

First bottles: "It gives your coat such shine!"

Second: "Silky smooth."

Third: "Such bounce!"

All the way down to the eighth: "So lustrous and full!"

"Well, that's it." Astrid said, standing back and letting the cat crawl out, "Now, all we have to do is dry you off."

Upon hearing the word 'dry', the cat shook her body violently, droplets of water flying and coating everything in the room with a fine sheen of wet.

Astrid wiped her face off and blinked, "Well, that's one way to go about things." She then held up Rufus's super deluxe blow-dryer of doom, a sadistic grin on her face, "But this is a much more efficient method."

…After the war had been complete, Dark Nation tore out of the room fluffier than a puffed-up poodle and Astrid was left on the tiled floor of the bathroom, sore and tangled in cords.

"Owie…"

RingRingRing

Astrid jumped to her feet and stumbled out of the bathroom, tripping over the cord and landing on the carpet.

RingRingRing

She crawled over to the nightstand, pulling herself up and grabbing at the receiver.

RingRingRi—

"Hello?"

"_Hello, Astrid._"

She grinned, "President Roo-Fuss! What is up, my tyrant lord?"

There was a pause, "_I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. How are things? You haven't—_"

"Completely liquidated your assets, defaced the building, and sent your entire force of SOLDIER out to Cactus Island to fight a nonexistent threat? Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?"

Another pause. "_Astrid, that's not funny._"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." She sighed and sat down on the bed, untangling the cord from her legs and balancing the phone on her shoulder, "Things are fine. Dark Nation and I are just sitting around, bored as ever. …Do you really leave her here for weeks on end with no human company?"

"_The longest I've ever left her alone was three days. Now that you're there, I'm fine with leaving her for a week, though she might not like it._"

"We're actually getting along pretty well." Astrid said, flopping back onto his bed, "We just got done with her bath."

"_She let you give her a bath? …What did you do to her?_"

Astrid shrugged, glancing at her nails, "Nothing, actually. I led her to the bath and she jumped right in." She sat up, crossing her legs, "Enough about us, though. How are things going there? WEAPON still giving you problems? And what about Tifa and Barret?"

"_We're doing the best we can to calm the people, Sapphire WEAPON is being handled well, and your friends are… still alive._"

She frowned, "I don't like that pause, Rufus. What are you going to do to them?"

"_You'll… find out in good time. Well, I have to go._"

"Wait!" Astrid shouted, leaning forward so far she nearly fell off of the bed, "What can I do for fun around here?! You've left me with nothing!"

"_Play fetch with Dark Nation, or something. Oh, and I left some of your things in the guest room, just don't use the materia on anything expensive…your bathroom would be the best place._"

Astrid looked at Rufus's bathroom and grinned. 'Then I guess it's a good thing I claimed your bathroom as mine.' "You got it, mein führer."

"_Alright. Remember, don't touch the plasma and be in bed by—_"

"I know, I know, eight thirty. Your recording already reminded me."

He chuckled, "_Good. Later._" Dial tone

Astrid sighed, "Later." She dropped the phone back onto the saddle and wandered into the bathroom, picking up Rufus's impeccably clean brush and running it through her still damp hair. When the brush came loose at her shoulders, she looked in the mirror, suddenly remembering her shortly cut hair.

Wandering back into the living room, she glanced at the hellcat that was staring at her from her perch on the sofa. "Fetch." She threw the brush, which Dark Nation was quick to run after. Remembering what Rufus had said, Astrid walked into her room and opened the box sitting on her bed, shifting through the things inside. She sighed.

"All of my materia, my sword, my gun, and my coat, but no clothes." She looked down at the oversized bathrobe she was wearing, "And this is so not going to cut it."

She considered Rufus's suits… for about half a second. She then promptly had a seizure and fell over.

Then, a thought struck her. 'The unused clothes in the bottom drawer of his dresser…' Other than the dusty ones, all of the clothes looked and smelled perfectly clean, and she was sure a few of them still had tags on them. 'Waste not, want not.'

She walked back to Rufus's room and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt, walking back into the living room a moment later and throwing herself on the sofa.

"This is going to be so boring…"

"Meow." A brush was dropped onto her stomach.

Astrid sighed, picked up the brush, and threw it again. "Fetch."


	39. Two Days Later

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Two Days Later)

Rufus sighed impatiently for the fifteenth time in ten minutes, running his hand through his hair, only to have it bounce back five seconds later. He glared at the side bang. 'I need to cut that.'

"President?" He looked at Tseng, who was staring at him with a raised brow, "Are you that worried about her, sir?"

Rufus scoffed and leaned back, "I'm not worried about her, Tseng, but rather the condition of my apartment and the mental stability of my cat."

Tseng frowned, "Sir, it's only been three days, and you've picked up the phone in your office twenty-seven times with the intention of calling her, only to hang up halfway through entering the number. And, the one time you did call her, you only spoke to her for three minutes. Now you're flying back to Midgar, and for what? A five minute checkup of the house and a ten minute argument with her about absolutely nothing?"

Rufus glared coolly at his bodyguard, "You're overstepping your boundaries, Tseng."

The Turk nodded, "Forgive me, sir, but I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be less trouble to just bring her back with us to Junon."

The president shook his head and sighed, flicking back his hair, "Junon is in too much of an uproar right now to bring her there. She'd more than likely attempt to escape, and if she planned it right and tried during an attack from WEAPON, she would more than likely succeed."

Tseng didn't say anything in return.

Rufus stared out the window and watched the Midgar Area pass below them, the green slowly fading to grey as they got closer and closer to the city. When they crossed over the wall and were headed for the helicopter pad, Rufus sighed again, an action that was shadowed by Tseng.

After shooting the leader of the Turks a glare, Rufus stepped out of the helicopter as it landed. He walked across the roof hastily, Tseng speed walking in order to keep up. They brushed through the main office and down the stairs, ignoring the confused looks of the secretaries as they pushed through the doors and jogged to the elevator.

Rufus quickly slid his cardkey through the slot.

"_Identification accepted. Welcome home, President Rufus._"

The elevator ride went excruciatingly slow, and Rufus took the time to straighten his suit and fix his hair.

Tseng smirked, "Don't try too hard there, Rufus."

The president paused, then ran his hand through his hair to return it to its normal state and snapped his arms out so the usual wrinkles resumed their positions.

When the elevator stopped, Rufus immediately calmed down and stepped through the elevator door coolly as it opened, glancing around his apartment in slight shock.

Everything was… exactly as he had left it. Other than the bundle of blankets on the sofa, nothing was out of place.

"Astrid?" He called, stepping further into the room and looking around, "Dark Nation?"

"Eh?"

Rufus and Tseng watched with wide eyes as the pile of blankets on the sofa came to life and rose, both men blinking when Astrid's head peeked out, her hair askew and her eyes half-closed.

"Whaddyawa?"

Rufus blinked, "Where's Dark Nation?"

"Mmm." Astrid's eyes closed and she reached out behind her, tapping at something, "Dark, your daddy's home."

The hellcat's black/blue head emerged from the pile of blankets behind Astrid, blue eyes staring at Rufus blearily before the head disappeared back into the sea of cloth.

Astrid yawned and waved to the men, "Night night." She pulled the covers over her head and lay back down, once again becoming one with the comforters.

Rufus and Tseng stood silently for a moment, then the Turk walked into the living room and sat on the unused sofa and Rufus walked around the apartment, looking at the general state of things.

The kitchen was clean, the guest room looked… unused, and his bedroom looked okay… except for one thing. The bathrobe lying in the middle of his floor.

Frowning, Rufus walked over to the bathrobe and kicked it aside slightly, staring at the damp spot on his carpet. He bent over and touched it. It was still warm.

"So, she's taken it upon herself to dress in my bedroom…" He stood and turned, looking at the half opened door of his bathroom. "I wonder…" He walked over to the door and pushed it open, blinking at the state of the room.

It was… spotless. Other than a fine sheen of condensation on the glass walls of the shower, everything was in place.

"She also took the liberty of using my bathroom…" Shaking his head, Rufus walked back into the living room and sat on the opposite end of the sofa Tseng was sitting on, and both men took to watching Astrid and Dark Nation as they roused themselves.

Astrid blinked slowly, yawning and waving to them, "Hi, guys."

"You used my bathroom." Rufus stated bluntly, then looked at her attire, "And you're wearing my clothes."

"That last one was not may fault." Astrid responded, still looking half asleep but sounding fully awake, "You left me my battle items and my coat, but that was it. None of my clothes. The closet and the drawers in the guest room were bare, so I borrowed some of your stuff. Besides, I only borrowed the stuff that still had the tags on it."

"Your clothes?" Rufus repeated, frowning, "Why didn't you just wash and reuse what you had on?"

Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Men. You clearly didn't have Elena help you when you were choosing what to leave me, did you?"

Rufus quirked a brow, "That was an extremely sexist remark."

She shrugged, "And you would know, you fascist."

Both Rufus and Tseng blinked at this, the latter remarking, "You don't appear to be in the best of moods."

"How observant of you." Astrid hissed, leaning back and crossing her arms, "Tell me, Captain Obvious, are you also going to remark on how I've been sleeping all day? Or that my hair is still wet from my shower just a few hours ago? Or that I haven't bothered to change the sheets I've been sleeping with since I first put them here? Please, feel free to stop me when you're satisfied."

"Are you PMSing?" Rufus asked, being as blunt as he possibly could.

Astrid's eyes narrowed and she pointed at the young president, "Dark Nation, hurt him."

Surprising both men, the hellcat immediately jumped to her feet and flew at Rufus, landing beside him on the sofa and smacking him on the back of the head. She then leapt back over to Astrid and crawled onto her lap, purring contently as Astrid stroked her head.

"Did I tell you Dark and I are friends now?" She asked calmly, smirking slightly as Rufus rubbed the back of his head

"It's a fact that seems to have slipped by." Rufus muttered tightly, glaring at her, "So, other than defiling the sanctity of my room, what else have you been up to."

"Nnnoothhhinnnng." Astrid hissed slowly, her eyes narrowing further. "When you left me here, I assumed that you would have at least left me with some form of entertainment, but no. All I've been able to do is shower, bath Dark Nation, sleep, and watch Gaian soap operas all day long. I even gave up eating because it was so boring."

Rufus frowned, "Do you complain about everything?"

Astrid blinked, "I'm a female. I'm not supposed to be satisfied with anything any male provides me with, or lack thereof." She paused, then dropped her head into her hands, pushing Dark Nation out of the way, "I hate myself. I'm such a bitch around… this time. Please, just kill me."

Rufus and Tseng just blinked, surprised.

She looked up at them, her eyes narrowed, "I said kill me! What are you waiting for?! You're armed! How hard is it to pull a gun and out a bullet in my head?!"

Once again, they blinked.

She looked at her hands and sobbed, "Why?! Why me?! Why did I have to be born female?!"

Blink.

Her gaze trailed from her hands to her arms, then to the shirt she was wearing. Then, she was standing and inspecting her wardrobe closely, "These are amazingly comfortable clothes." She looked up at Rufus and smiled, "What's the name of your tailor? I want clothes this comfortable."

Blink.

She shuddered as she looked at them, her gaze turning wry, "I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am going through a series of massive mood swings."

Blink.

She fell back onto the sofa, grabbing at her head, "Too… many… mood swings… at one… time! Oh, the pain!"

Blink.

She sat back up and crossed her legs, twisting her head until her spine cracked. Seeing the looks they were giving her, Astrid smiled and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Sorry about that. I think I'm done for now… though it will probably start up again in a while."

Rufus blinked, "Do you have everything you need?"

"Eh?" She tilted her head, then blinked and nodded, "Oh, yeah. I called a maid up and she brought me… some stuff. I'm good."

"Alright, then." Rufus stood, "We'll be going." He nodded to Tseng, who stood and walked briskly to the elevator. Rufus followed him, but was stopped when Astrid called out to him.

"Wait." He stopped and turned, and she walked over to him, "Rufus, you have you actually thought about what you're going to do with my friends?"

The young president crossed his arms and looked away, "I've been considering several options…"

"Well, when you do have something, can I come to Junon? I want to see them."

He blinked and looked down at her, "Would you rather come now?"

Astrid crossed her arms and quirked a brow, "And be tethered to you and your office for hours on end? As if. I'd rather be here and be bored out of my mind. Besides, the chairs in your office are uncomfortable."

Rufus sighed and turned away, "I'll have a helicopter sent for you in a few days. Remember the rules, and…" He paused, then glanced back at her, "How have you been watching soap operas if I told you not to touch the plasma?"

"Oh, that." Astrid smiled smartly and turned back to the living room, "Dark Nation has been turning the TV on for me. Right, Dark?" As if on cue, the TV descended down from the ceiling and flickered on. Astrid turned back to Rufus and smiled sheepishly, "Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to be able to change the channels… either that, or she doesn't want to."

Rufus blinked, then shook his head, "Well, that explains why I have such an outrageous subscription bill…" He turned and walked to the elevator, glancing back as the door closed. "Remember to be ready in three days."

She nodded, "Gotcha." Then, something hit her and she called out, "Wait!" But the door was already closed. "What… about my… clothes situation?" She sighed, glancing back at Dark Nation, "Well, what do you say we go raid Rufus's closet again?"

Dark Nation tilted her head, "Meow." The cat jumped down from the sofa and ran down the hall.

Astrid smirked, "Tally ho!" She ran after the cat, diving on the floor of the president's room when the cat jumped at her from behind the door. Astrid spun around and crouched, "An ambush, eh? Well, then, en garde!"

Dark Nation yowled and jumped as Astrid dove at her, bounding across the room and jumping up on the bed. She spun around and looked around the room sharply, her eyes and tail dancing. She froze. Astrid wasn't there. Dark Nation waited tensely.

"Huh Ha!" Astrid leapt up from the side of the bed, grabbing the cat around the neck and pinning her to the bed.

Yowling, Dark Nation rolled over Astrid, only to be rolled again. They wrestled like this for a few minutes until the cat squirmed away and bounded out of the room.

Astrid rolled to the edge of the bed, laughing. When she had calmed down, she rolled off of the bed and walked over to the dresser and knelt down in front of it. She opened it halfway, then stopped.

"Hmm…" Shutting the drawer, Astrid stood and walked over to the closet, opening it and looking at the contents. "Not all of these are the same size, so maybe…" She pulled out a shirt and looked at the tag, smirking, "This might work after all…"


	40. Questioned Alliance

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Questioned Alliance)

Three days later, Astrid and Dark Nation emerged from the helicopter and stepped onto the Junon asphalt, stretching and smiling in the sunlight and tangy, salty air.

Dark Nation lifted her head and stiffed the air, then turned and bound off.

Astrid glanced to see what the cat had smelled, smiling when she saw the cat leap up onto her master and nearly knock him off his feet.

Rufus laughed lightly and scratched Dark behind the ears, then looked up at Astrid and smirked. It slowly faded to a frown, though, when he took a look at what she was wearing. "Are those—"

"Yours?" She finished as she approached, bracing herself when Dark Nation turned away from Rufus and leapt up at her, "Yep." She knelt down and scratched the cat up and down her body, "With a few adjustments, of course. They never would have worked otherwise."

Her new outfit consisted of one of his black sweaters, one of his white overcoats, a pair of white pants, and a pair of his brown boots. Everything, though, had been taken in to fit her, and she had completely left out the vest.

"What do you think, Reno?" She asked, standing and spinning as the Turks walked up, "Could I pass for Rufus in a cosplay convention? Or maybe for Halloween?" She raised her hand and dramatically flicked her bangs back, smirking arrogantly, "I've been practicing."

Reno shook his head and laughed, "Tseng was telling the truth. You really were bored, weren't you?"

"Immensely." Astrid answered, dropping her hands to her hips, "And it didn't help me any that Rufus didn't leave me with the proper provisions, so I got creative with my clothes." She looked down at her legs, smoothing the pants over her hips, "And I think I did a fair job of it, considering what I had to work with." She glanced at Rufus and quirked a brow, "Do you wear everything baggy on purpose, or are you trying to hide something?"

Rufus scowled and narrowed his eyes, "I see no reason to dignify your answer, captive." He snapped his fingers, the Turks answering immediately and taking Astrid by the arms.

She groaned and rolled her eyes, "I thought we were past all of this—"

"Be quiet." Rufus snapped, walking up to her and grabbing her chin roughly, "It would appear as though you've been getting too comfortable. We're going to have to work to change that."

Astrid growled and tried to yank her chin away, but failed. 'Well, can't say I didn't see something like this coming. I got the feeling Rufus was being too nice…' "Remember, Rufus," She said, letting her head fall slack so she wasn't hurt, "You all like me too much for this, right? That's why I wasn't placed wherever Tifa and Barret are. That, and I control the Book." She paused, then searched his face, noting the tension immediately, "Something isn't right, is it? Something is stressing you."

The man pursed his lips and turned dropped her jaw, turning away sharply.

"I can help, you know." She said calmly, easing her way out of the Turks' grasp and taking a step to stand beside the president, "Just tell me what I can do and I'll do it."

Rufus shook his head and sighed, "Can you think of a way to stop Meteor?"

Astrid blinked. "What have you planned so far?"

"Nothing."

At this, she frowned, 'Didn't Shin-Ra… use a rocket and a whole bunch of Huge Materia? I'm sure that's how the game went, so why haven't they started planning this yet?'

"Forget it." Astrid blinked and looked at Rufus, who was shaking his head, "You're here to see your friends, not help my company do its job." He sighed and started walking, "Let's go."

Frowning, Astrid followed him across the tarmac and into the main building, the Turks following. He led her down several halls, finally stopping in front of a heavily guarded door.

Rufus waved the guards aside, then stood back and nodded to Astrid, "Go on."

She hesitated, then opened the door and walked inside. She smiled widely, "Tifa! Barret!"

Both members of AVALANCHE jumped and turned to her, Tifa smiling and running to her, "ASTRID!" Barret stayed where he was, his face blank.

Astrid laughed and hugged Tifa back as the woman flung herself at her, pulling the younger woman into a bone crushing hug.

"We were so worried!" Tifa exclaimed, "After we didn't see you escape the Northern Crater, then later when you didn't seem to see us at all!"

"Yeah, sorry about that." Astrid forced herself to smile, "Things… got a little out of hand that day."

Tifa nodded, agreeing, "So, did you ever find Marcus?"

Astrid immediately tensed, her head lowering.

"Astrid?" Tifa frowned, "What's wro—"

"Alright, that's enough about that." Rufus stepped between them and pushed Tifa back snappishly. He glanced at Astrid, who had a glazed look in her eye. Sighing, he placed a hand on her shoulder, nodding to her when the glazed look fled and she looked up at him, "Keep it short."

Astrid nodded, then turned to Tifa and smiled, "So, where are the others?"

Tifa, who had been frowning confusedly, shook her head, "No idea. We haven't seen Red, Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, or Cait Sith, and they're saying that Cloud was…" She choked and looked away, unable to finish.

"He's fine, Tifa." Astrid grabbed the woman's arms and smiled at her when Tifa looked down at her, "Cloud may be a lot of things, but he definitely isn't weak. He survived whatever happened to him, I know it."

Tifa nodded and smiled, "You're right… Cloud is alive."

"And the others are fine, too." Astrid continued, her smile widening, "We're all pretty tough… we have survived both Sephiroth and Shin-Ra, after all. We'll be back together before you know it."

Someone coughed, and they both turned to face the skeptical and cynical looks of the president and the Turks. Rufus raised his brows and crossed his arms, "Is that really something you should be talking about with such confidence, considering the company you're in?"

Astrid smirked and shrugged, "I don't know, Rufus; we've done really well, so far. Maybe it's about time you started taking us seriously." She paused, then dropped the smirk and looked at him sardonically, "Can we have a moment alone?"

"Shouldn't the answer to that be obvious?" Rufus questioned back with the same look.

"Oh, come on, Rufus!" Astrid cried, smacking her forehead with her hand, "We're in the center of your precious Junon stronghold, there's only one door, the vents are bolted, it's probably a thousand foot drop out the window, and you and the Turks with be standing right outside the whole time!" When he didn't make to leave, she rolled her eyes, "If I promise not to try anything, will you trust me? You can even leave Dark Nation if you want, it's not like she's stupid."

Rufus's eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips, "Ten minutes. That's it. And don't forget, we're right outside if anything happens…" He turned sharply and walked out the door, the Turks following without a second glance. Dark Nation moved to follow, but when Rufus shot her a look, she sat back down and assumed her guarding position.

When the door had shut, Astrid smiled to Dark Nation and tapped her leg twice. The cat tilted her head and considered this for a moment, then stood and bound over to her, rubbing her head against her leg. Astrid turned back to Tifa and Barret, her smile faltering slightly when she was met with doubtful looks.

"What's wrong, you guys?"

Tifa and Barret exchanged glances, Tifa slowly saying, "Well… it's just…" She looked back at the teen, smiling uncertainly, "I didn't know you were on such good terms with Shin-Ra…"

Astrid blinked, "What… do you mean?"

"You just got Rufus to leave the room." Barret growled, crossing his arms, "Rufus's cat likes you, the Turks have always seemed to trust you, you seem to get special treatment whenever you're captured…" He trailed off, then shrugged, "Looks kinda suspi—"

"Not suspicious!" Tifa shouted, shooting Barret a look, "Just… odd."

Astrid blinked again, a feeling of numbness shooting through her body, "You don't trust me…"

"Of course we do." Tifa exclaimed, taking a step forward and spreading her arms, "We just don't understand why. Why does Rufus trust you so much?"

"It has nothing to do with trust." Astrid answered, "Nothing at all. It's just…" She sighed, "When I was first captured by Shin-Ra, I got away with a bit because I stood up for myself and I threatened Hojo into getting things that were realistically attainable. I've never asked for anything outrageous, so I've almost always gotten what I want. As for Rufus… we got off to a fairly good start. I made a crack at his dad." She shrugged, "I made him laugh.

"The Turks." She continued, "We've always been on fairly good terms with each other. Reno saved me from destruction in Hojo's lab, Tseng's stuck up for me whenever I was cornered by one of the higher-ups, like Scarlet or Heidegger, Elena was always good to talk to about issues, and as for Rude… well… no one ever bugged me when I was standing with him.

"Shin-Ra doesn't trust me." Astrid concluded, "But there are those within it who I am on fairly good terms with."

Tifa was silent, but Barret was still looking at her with contempt.

"Well, that's awright and all, but what about taking Shin-Ra down?" Barret question, frowning, "What'll you do when it comes time to do that?"

Astrid sighed and shook her head, kneeling to stroke Dark Nation, "You'll never take down Shin-Ra."

"WHAT?!" Barret roared.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE DOWN SHIN-RA!" Astrid shouted back, standing and meeting him with a glare, "AND EVEN IF YOU COULD, I WOULDN'T HELP YOU!"

Tifa and Barret gapped at her, then Barret closed his mouth and started shaking, "So… you never wanted to save the Planet… it was all about your brother!"

"Of course it was!" Astrid exclaimed. She then shook her head, "Don't get me wrong, Shin-Ra is doing a bad thing by draining the Planet's mako, but destroying them isn't the way to go! No matter what, Gaia needs Shin-Ra! When are you going to get that?!"

"WHY YOU—" Just as Barret made to move forward, Dark Nation leapt to her feet and stood in front of Astrid protectively, growling lowly.

Behind them, the door burst open and Rufus and the Turks ran in, and guns were instantly pointed at both Tifa and Barret.

"No!" Astrid jumped in front of them and held out her arms, "Don't!"

"Astrid, stand back." Rufus growled, glaring at Barret.

Reno charged his Electro-Mag Rod and shook his head, "We've heard enough to know that you aren't safe in here."

"I'm fine." Astrid hissed, gritting her teeth, "But I won't be if you keep pointing those guns with the intention of firing, because I'm not moving. Now, lower your weapons, if you will."

After a pause, Rufus sighed and lowered his gun, an action the Turks were quick to mimic. Dark Nation stopped growling and walked beside Astrid, though she stood between her and Tifa and Barret, the fur on her neck still standing straight.

"Alright, Astrid, we're done." Rufus said, shrugging, "Now, please come over here." When she didn't move, he frowned, "Don't make this difficult, Astrid."

She paused, then nodded and walked towards Rufus, pausing when she was behind him and looking over her shoulder. She smiled sadly at Tifa, "Sorry about this… I never should have said anything."

Tifa shook her head and smiled back, "It's not your fault… it was a bad topic to talk about to begin with. It would have been better to wait until we were out of this place…" She shot Rufus a look.

Barret was silent.

Astrid sighed and shook her head, "There are reasons, Barret, that Shin-Ra needs to continue to exist. Reasons I'd like to explain to you, but only when you're more levelheaded. You're right." He looked at her and she nodded, "Draining mako from Planet, blackmail, assassinations, tyranny… the utter control Shin-Ra has over Gaia and her people is bad." She saw Rufus turn to look at her out of the corner of her eye, but she still stared at Barret, "But, for now, it's the kind of control that Gaia needs…" She stopped and sighed, "I need to work on this… I'll tell you later."

When the room was silent, Rufus nodded, "Well, it would appear as though we are done here." He looked at Astrid, "You go out first."

She nodded and walked out the door, throwing her friends a smile over her shoulder and waving, "It was good to see you! Don't worry, we won't be here long!" As she walked out the door, Tifa threw her a smile and a wave. Barret just jerked his hand slightly.

Outside of the room, Astrid, the Turks, and Rufus stood silently, staring at each other.

"Well…" Reno said after a moment, scratching the back of his head, "That went… well?"

"Astrid," Rufus said abruptly, ignoring Reno, "What did you mean when you said that right now, Shin-Ra is what Gaia needs?"

She sighed and crossed her arms, staring at her feet, "It's the progression of government…" She shook her head, "There's some lecture from school I'm trying to remember, but it's all a bit hazy. I'll probably end up spewing it, though, when I remember it, so let's forget it for now and move on."

Rufus nodded, "Fine." He lifted his hand and flicked his wrist, "Detain her."

"Damn it, Rufus!" She shouted as Reno and Rude grabbed her arms, "What's your problem?!"

He shrugged, "I don't want you interfering with my plans, so you're going to be placed in a holding cell for a while. Don't worry," He smirked, "I assure you that you'll be receiving first class service."

Astrid groaned and rolled her eyes, "Oh, ha ha, very funny." She didn't fight, though, as they led her through the building and to her new containment cell.

'Well… what next?'


	41. Junon Escape

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Junon Escape)

"RUFUS!"

The president and the Board looked up from their work, raising questioning brows when an angry, bound Astrid stormed through the doors, her entourage of Turks close behind.

Rufus quirked a brow further, "Yes, Astrid?"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" She shouted, slamming her bound, double fisted hands on the edge of the table, "I WANT ANSWERS, NOW!"

"Well, maybe if you calmed down and spoke a bit more clearly, I'd be able to provide them." Rufus said calmly, looking back down at his paperwork. The rest of the Board continued to stare at Astrid.

She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "You're going to execute them."

Rufus frowned, "Who?"

Astrid pursed her lips and stared at him silently.

"Ah." Rufus said after a moment, nodding his head and looking back at his papers, "Your friends… Yes, yes, most tragic. Now, perhaps your guards should take you back to your room before you become too much of an inconvenience."

"Alright, let's go, Astrid." Reno said, stepping forward and reaching out for her arm.

"No." Astrid yanked her arm away, walking around the table and towards Rufus slowly, "You lied to me Rufus."

"I did not." Rufus said, still looking at his papers, "I did nothing of the sort."

She paused behind Reeve, setting her hands on the back of his chair and nodding, "Fine. So you didn't exactly lie. But, you also didn't tell me the truth." She turned and continued her slow walk towards the president, "Which is just as bad as lying to me." She stopped beside him, slamming her hands into the middle of his papers, "Rufus, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to?" Rufus asked, looking up at her, "I am Rufus Shinra, president of Shin-Ra Electric Power Company."

"And I am Astrid Cray!" She shouted, spinning his chair to face her and leaning in, "Experiment Serial Number 2208, the Multifaceted Ailment Experiment, owner of the Book, the last person on this planet capable of the ability 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate', older sister of the deceased Marcus Cray, the boy who called Sephiroth 'Master'. I am literally worlds away from home, and I have no choice but to accept Gaia as my new home. Now, some of this is my fault, most of it is the fault of circumstance, but you," She pointed at him, only using on hand while the other sat limp beside the pointing one and glaring, "Some of this is indeed your fault, and you owe it to me, in some small way, to tell me the truth, and you didn't."

Rufus stared at her for a moment, then nodded and stood, pushing her back, "Alright, you want the truth? Here it is." He led her to the window and pointed down at Junon, "Down there is a city of people waiting for an answer as to why there is a giant hunk of flaming rock headed for the planet, ready to smash into it and end their lives." He then gestured to the sea, "Across that sea, all over this planet, there are thousands of others waiting for the same answer, and they are all looking to Shin-Ra to give them one. They are waiting for retribution."

"And you're giving it to them in the form of an execution, using the people who had both tried to sabotage you and came closer than you ever did to stopping Sephiroth." She scowled and glared up at him, "You really need to get over your personal vendettas."

"Girl," She turned to the table, where Heidegger was standing and aiming a gun at her, "You're walking a very fine line, and it's not a good line to be walking. I suggest you go back to your cell and wait out the rest of your pitiful life."

Astrid smirked, "Unfortunately for you," she drew her gun from within her coat, pointing it at the bearded man, holding it with both bound hands, "Being careful doesn't matter to me anymore. _Carpe diem_." She grinned, pulling back the hammer, "I'm living life to the fullest now, even if that means walking on the edge."

"Now, now," Rufus sighed, reaching out and pushing her gun down with one hand, gesturing to Heidegger with the other, "There is no need for this." Astrid turned to face him and he looked at her sharply, "You need to go back to your room now."

"And do nothing about Tifa and Barret's execution? Ha!" She crossed her arms as best she could and scowled, "That's a laugh."

Rufus shook his head, "I can see you're going to be nothing but an issue." He paused, then smirked, "I'd apologize in advance for this… if I weren't going to enjoy it so much."

Astrid frowned and moved to step back, but was too late. Pain and pressure bloomed just beneath her ear. She tried to reach out to throttle the president, but her body was paralyzed. Her mouth fell open and she heard a small gasp escape her lips, then she was falling. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was a still smirking Rufus looking down at her.

* * *

Tseng sighed and shook his head when President Rufus caught Astrid as she fell, unconscious. "President, was that really a good idea? She'll probably want to kill you when she wakes."

Rufus shrugged, picking up the unconscious girl, walking to the Turks, "That's what you are here for. Now," He held her out to Rude, "Take her back to her room and make sure she can't get out."

Rude took her silently and Tseng sighed, bowing, "As you wish, sir."

The Turks turned and walked out of the room, the Board getting back to work silently as they exited.

* * *

"I'm gonna kill Rufus the next time I see him." Astrid muttered, glaring at the wall and twitching slightly as Elena applied a cream to the bruise already forming on the side of the teen's head.

"Will you quit fidgeting?" Elena sighed, using her non-creamy hand to hold Astrid's chin, "I can't keep this out of your hair if you struggle."

"Hmph." Astrid was still for a moment before she turned her head slightly to look at Tseng, "When is the execution dated for?"

"The day after tomorrow." The Turk answered, sipping at a cup of tea, "Timed to take place at high noon."

"And where specifically is it going to be?"

Tseng took another sip, then set his tea down with a sharp click and glanced at Astrid flatly, "You're not going to stop it."

Astrid blinked and put on a face of mock shock, leaning back in her chair and placing a hand on her chest, "Ah, you wound me, Tseng! Assuming that I plan on foiling Rufus's execution! Why… why that's absurd!" She paused, smirking slightly, "So, where was it, again?"

"Huahhhh…" Tseng sighed, shaking his head. "Would you like a cup of tea?" He asked, changing the subject and pulling out another teacup, "It's spiced black."

She thought about it, then shrugged, "Sure." She took the cup from him after he had filled it and took a sip, sighing and leaning back.

Elena sighed loudly, "Fine, if you're not going to sit still, I'm done!" The woman stood and took a seat on the sofa next to Tseng, picking up her own cup of tea.

"Thank you, Elena." Astrid took a pensive sip, then looked around the room, "So, you guys have been assigned to watch me, eh?"

Rude nodded, "That's right." He took a sip of tea.

Reno lifted his hand and gave a mock salute, "You betcha." He laid back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

Astrid blinked, "No tea for you, Reno? It really is good."

"Meh," The Turk shrugged, "Not really a tea person."

Astrid nodded, looking back to her cup. After a moment, she looked out the window, "Nice weather."

"Yeah."

"Mmmm."

"Sure."

"Whatever."

The room fell into a pregnant silence.

Astrid sighed, "This is going to be oodles of fun."

* * *

"Today is the day."

Astrid's head snapped up from the Turk manual she had stolen from Reno and she looked at the owner of the book, blinking, "Huh?"

Reno, who had been lounging in his chosen chair, opened his eyes and looked at her, "The day of the execution. It's today."

She thought about it, blinking, "It is, isn't it?"

"Yep." The Turk nodded, shutting his eyes, "That's why Tseng, Elena and Rude aren't here. They're out on guard rounds; keeping the building safe." He tilted his head slightly, his neck cracking, "You aren't going to try anything, are you?"

"…Wasn't planning to." Astrid admitted, looking back to the manual and turning the page, "And even if I was, I wouldn't be able to get past you, would I?"

"Of course not." Reno said, crossing his arms behind his head, "I am Reno, after all, and you're just Astrid. Besides," He smirked, "I don't plan on helping you this time."

"You won't need to." Astrid said, turning back to the manual.

Reno opened his eyes a bit and looked at her for a moment, then closed them again and appeared to doze off.

Astrid flipped through the pages of the book, stopping at one chapter in particular.

'_How To Sneak Up on A Sleeping Enemy_'

Ten minutes later, Astrid was standing over Reno with a teapot in her hands. She squinted her eyes shut, slamming the container down onto his head, porcelain chips dusting his hair. Reno immediately fell limp.

"Sorry, Reno." Astrid muttered, leaning across his prone form and digging into his pocket, "But I have to do this." She pulled out the keys and ran to the door, pausing and doubling back. She slipped out of the room a moment later, keys and Electro-Mag Rod in hand. Wincing as she locked the door behind her, Astrid sighed and power walked down the hall.

The halls were relatively empty, and the few soldiers she did pass didn't spare her a second glance. She noticed that they all seemed to be coming from one place in particular, and that the closer that she got to wherever it was, the more frequent her encounters with the guards became.

She stopped down the hall from one door in particular, slipping into a perpendicular hallway and peeking out from around the edge; the door that soldiers were constantly pouring in and out of. She caught sight of Tseng and Rude standing sentry at the door, quickly ducking back behind the wall when the latter glanced in her direction.

'Alright, so I know where I'm not going…' A uniformed soldier walked past her and she reached out, grabbing his arm before he walking into the main hall. "Hi." She smiled and bowed slightly to him as he turned to face her, "Could you help me, I'm a bit lost… Where are the executions being held?"

"Just down the hall." The soldier said, jerking his head towards the door Tseng and Rude were guarding.

Astrid held back a wince, her smile growing instead, "Thank you." She bowed again.

"No problem." The soldier then walked off, leaving Astrid contemplating.

'Okay… I'll just have to trust them to get out on their own. Now, what productive thing can I do in the meantime?...' She crossed her arms and looked down her hall, thinking. A flashing sign above the door at the end of her hall caught her eye, and even though she couldn't read the writing, she did understand the small picture next to the writing. 'The airfield… hmm… Aha!' She rubbed her hands together and cackled, "This is going to be great."

* * *

"And how do we know that you're an actual messenger from President Rufus and not an intruder?"

Astrid rolled her eyes at the guards, "Okay, let's think about this for a moment: first, I'm wandering around this place freely and there are no alarms going off; second, I approached you directly with this order; third, if the President were expecting a break-in, you would have been warned to seize any who weren't in uniform on sight, which you haven't done. Anything in retaliation?" When the guards said nothing, Astrid smirked, "No, then? Alright, now do what the President said to and pour eight cups of sugar in the gas tank of every vehicle on this entire airstrip, excluding the Highwind and the President's helicopter."

The fifty-plus soldiers saluted and ran off to the kitchens, leaving Astrid alone on the tarmac, smiling and cackling to herself.

"It'll take them years to fix all of those cars! And I can only imagine what it'll do to the helicopters!..." She frowned and crossed her arms, "Actually, it'll probably do the same thing to them as it did the cars… But oh well!" She smirked and rubbed her hands together, "It's still deliciously sinister!"

Having nothing else to do until the soldiers returned with the sugar, Astrid skipped over to the nearest command tower and walked up to the control room, where she proceeded to reshuffle all of the papers and put several files with 'TOP SECRET' stamped on the covers through the shredders. Then, for an added measure, she took the glass panel out of the copy machine and drew a huge smiley face on the underside in pink marker, replacing it carefully and walking away smiling.

She was about to pour a bottle of hot sauce into the coffee maker when a thought hit her. 'Rufus is going to kill me when he finds out I did this…' After a brief pause, she shrugged her shoulders and replaced the hot sauce with cooking oil, emptying half of the bottle. 'Well, then he shouldn't have tried to kill my friends.'

Moving on to the bathroom, she emptied all of the soap dispensers of their soap. She then took a green marker and broke it open, removing the stick of color from the inside. Filling the soap containers halfway with lotion, she dropped the green marker stick into the lotion and capped them, shaking them up and getting the white lotion good and green.

All of the toilet paper rolls were replaced with flyers with pictures of Rufus's face on them. On her way out, she took a mop, drenched it in oil, and gave the floor a good wipe down.

On the first floor of the control tower, Astrid dusted her hands off dramatically and nodded to herself, "Well, that's that taken care of." She then moved onto the next tower.

Four towers later, the first alarm went off.

"Crap." Astrid gathered the multicolored highlighters and jumped off of the table covered with the giant map of Gaia, which now didn't resemble Gaia in the least.

Outside, she looked around in a panic at all of the soldiers still filling the gas tanks of all of the vehicles with sugar. She grabbed a grunt that was walking by and shouted, "Spread the word! Stop with the sugar and respond to the alarm!"

The soldier saluted, "Yes, ma'am!" He then dropped his sack of sugar and ran to another group of soldiers.

Confident that her work was done, Astrid ran back to the main building, stopping by the Highwind and pressing random buttons on a nearby consol. When several chains that strapped the airship to the ground were released and only one chain remained, she ducked behind the consol and waited.

'Someone should be here soon… right? This is how they escape Junon and get the Highwind, or at least that's what Marcus's friends said. They'll get here eventually…'

Just then, a familiar squat figure ran up to the Highwind and to the boarding ladder. Astrid jumped out from behind the consol and ran at him, "Cait Sith!"

The moogle stopped and the cat turned and smiled widely at her, waving, "Come on, Astrid! We're outta here!" He started climbing.

"Hey! Kid!" Astrid turned and grinned at Cid. The man waved at her, "Get you scrawny up that ladder!"

She laughed and saluted, "Aye, aye, Captain!" She ran to the ladder and climbed after Cait Sith.

Inside of the Highwind, the group gathered around Cid, who was shouting orders. "This is my pride and joy, the Highwind! Keep out of the way of the workers and, for materia's sake, don't bug the #& pilot! Kid's more skittish than a chocobo in a pit of Midgar Zolom babies." When he had stalked off to the bridge, the rest of the group turned to Astrid.

"You got out!" Yuffie squealed, jumping onto her neck and hugging her.

"And not a moment too soon." Astrid said, smiling and hugging the ninja back, "I left Rufus a nice parting gift, and if he had found me he would have skinned me alive." She looked around, frowning, "Where's Tifa?"

"Still in the building." Barret grumbled, "We're going to get her, but we gotta find a way to get her up here."

"Let's go up top!" Cait Sith suggested, jumping up and down, "There's a deck up there, and if we can find a rope or something we can pull her in!"

"Let's go, then!" Red XIII exclaimed, turning and running up the nearest set of steps.

The rest of the group followed, emerging onto the deck a moment later.

As they scrambled around for a rope, an intercom overhead crackled and Cid's voice came over it, "We're about to pull up alongside the cannon. Tifa and some #& in a red dress and fightin' up there and they're almost at the end, so get ready to nab her!"

"Here's a rope." Vincent stood near the railing, tying one end to the bar and handing the other end to Barret.

The leader of AVALANCHE took the rope and waited tensely at the edge of the railing, and the deck fell into silence.

"Astrid." She looked down at Red XIII who was nuzzling her hand, "Where is Marcus?"

She could feel everyone's eyes on her and Cait Sith, who had been chatting with Yuffie, stopped immediately.

"Y-you know, I don't think that's a good to—"

"It's alright, Cait." Astrid said, turning to him and nodding, "They have the right to know…" She looked at her friends and smiled, "Marcus… didn't make it." When they looked at her in shock, she shook her head, "Ultimately, whatever Jenova and Sephiroth did to him was too much, and his body couldn't handle it. Marcus died… and we buried him about two miles west of the Forgotten Capital."

"Astrid…" Yuffie looked at her sadly and shook her head, "I'm so sor—"

"Don't say it!" Astrid said sternly, frowning at the ninja, "Condolences and sympathy are the last thing I need. What I really need to do right now is help stop Meteor. Sorrow can be saved for a later time."

"Here it comes!" Cid's voice said suddenly, crackling over the intercom.

The group flew to the railing and looked over, blinking at what they saw on top of the cannon.

"Tifa!" Astrid shouted, holding back a laugh, "This Is No Time For A Bitch-Slap Fight!"

Tifa just slapped Scarlet harder.

"Tifa!" Barret shouted, holding the rope tighter, "Run to the end of the cannon!"

The woman turned and started running, the head of the Weapons Development Department hot on her heels.

Astrid nearly fell over laughing, 'That woman can run! And in heels, no less!'

And Scarlet could run. Despite the fact that she was running across the ever-thinning barrel of a cannon, Scarlet could run very fast. Too fast.

Astrid's face fell as the realization hit her. 'Tifa's not going to be able to outrun her…' "Run faster, Tifa!" But Tifa and Scarlet were already too close to the end for Tifa to outrun her.

Barret threw the rope and Tifa caught it, but Scarlet jumped out and grabbed Tifa's leg.

"Damn it!" Astrid jumped up onto the railing.

"Astrid! What are you doing?!"

She turned to her friends and smiled, nodding, "Find Cloud and stop Meteor! We'll all see each other again, I promise!"

And she jumped.


	42. Stuck With Shinra

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Stuck With Shinra)

As she plummeted towards the ocean, Astrid had only one thought in mind; Nail Scarlet. 'Hit that bitch and take her down. If this kills me, I'm takin' her with me!'

The looks of shock on Tifa and Scarlet's faces were priceless.

"Later, Tifa!" Astrid shouted as she swung out with her arm and cuffed Scarlet around the neck, jerking the woman off of the rope. Scarlet screamed as they fell, making Astrid clamp her hand over the woman's mouth and glare at her, "Your screams are not the last thing I want to hear before I die!"

…This just made Scarlet redouble her efforts.

Astrid rolled her eyes and looked at her impending doom below. 'Hmm… slamming into the glassy surface of the ocean at breakneck speed… that doesn't sound painful in the least.'

A thought hit Astrid then and she took out Reno's Electro-Mag Rod, grinning at the materia she saw winking at her.

'That's convenient.' She thought to herself as the knowledge of air entered her mind. She quickly cast 'Aero3', forming a barrier around herself and Scarlet just seconds before they slammed into the ocean.

They were knocked around a bit, Scarlet's face slamming into the side of Astrid's head and Scarlet's bony elbow digging into Astrid's ribs, a distinct cracking sound heard over the popping of the barrier as it burst and they were both plunged into the ruthless cold of the ocean.

Both women flailed around a bit, relaxing only when they had cleared some space between each other. Scarlet then began to paw at her neck helplessly as she accidentally sucked in saltwater, then started to sink.

Despite being sorely tempted to let the woman drown, Astrid found herself swimming back down and grabbing the woman around the waist, pulling her towards the surface. When the broke the surface and started sucking in air, Astrid turned to watch the Highwind speed off, helicopters taking off in pursuit only to choke two minutes into flight and dive into the ocean.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Scarlet screeched, slamming her hands on the water as she waded, "WHY AREN'T THEY GOING AFTER THEM?!"

"Technical difficulties." Astrid replied, laughing on the inside. She swam over to Scarlet and jerked her head towards Junon, "You want help getting in? It's kinda cold out here."

Scarlet scoffed and turned her nose into the air, "A ship will come pick me up."

Astrid shook her head, "Only if Sapphire WEAPON doesn't eat you first." When the woman's eyes widened, Astrid nodded, "Now, do you want help or not? I can't imagine swimming in a dress and heels being easy."

Scarlet was silent, but reached out and grabbed Astrid's shoulder, anyway.

"Don't worry." Astrid said as they started swimming, "I'm sure Rufus will send out a boat for us."

Neither of them said anything further, and when a dinghy coasted out and picked them up, they both got on silently and pretended the other didn't exist. They were both wrapped in towels and rushed up to the meeting room, where they were met by the angry glares of Rufus Shinra.

"So, I see you failed, Scarlet."

"B-but, sir!" Scarlet exclaimed, stepping forward, "This girl—"

"I don't want excuses." Rufus said calmly, standing and turning to the window, "You have failed me twice now, Scarlet, and I want it known that I will not stand for it." He then waved his hand to her, "You may sit."

Scarlet nodded and walked over to her seat, holding the towel closer to herself as she sat.

"Now, as for Astrid." Rufus turned to her and blinked, then smiled widely, "Hello, Astrid."

Astrid smiled back, "Hey, Rufus." 'Crap… Smiling Rufus not good… I am so dead…'

Still smiling, Rufus walked back to his seat and picked up a paper, "Now, let's review the damage you caused, shall we?" He cleared his throat and read, "Over two hundred air and land vehicles rendered useless, over four hundred pounds of sugar wasted, six control towers undergoing major renovations, medical care for fifty soldiers injured while escaping the helicopters, one of the Turks," He glanced at Reno, "receiving medical care after having a teapot broken against his skull."

Astrid glanced at Reno and smiled sheepishly, to which the man just rolled his eyes, unable to hold back a grin. He had a huge bruise blooming on his forehead…

"On top of that." Rufus went on, "You helped seven dangerous insurgents escape and you assisted in the thievery of one of my best airships." Rufus let the paper fall back onto the table, his grin seeming to be wider than ever, "Now, give me one good reason of why I shouldn't kill you slowly and painfully."

"Umm…" Astrid clasped her hands behind her back and bit her lips, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Let's see…" Her eyes glanced around the room, falling onto the papers sitting in front of the members of the Board. Catching sight of the date on one of them… "Is that really the date?" She asked, pointing to the paper.

Palmer, the owner of the paper, looked down at it and blinked, "Yes, it is."

"Thank you." Astrid nodded and smiled, looking back to Rufus and saying, "It's my birthday!"

"Oh?" Rufus asked, still smiling.

Astrid nodded again, "Yep, and, in honor of my birthday, I'd like you to give me the best present of all… your assurance that you and none of yours will kill me, now or ever!"

Rufus's grin twitched, "Not nearly good enough." He pulled out his gun and pointed it at her, "Anything else before I shoot you?"

"Your cat likes me!" Astrid shouted, backing into the door, "The Book becomes useless if I die! You'll get blood all over the carpet! Gaia wouldn't be as interesting! You're not thinking clearly and you might regret it later! Cloud and the others would be angry! Small children who met and liked me would cry! I'm not worth you wasting the bullet! I'd like to live to my twenty-first year!"

"Tick tock…" Rufus sang, pulling back the hammer, "Tick tock…"

"You'd never be able to disengage the trap virus I set up on your home computer!"

Everyone in the room seemed shocked by this outburst, even Astrid, herself…

"What?" Rufus asked, the smile vanishing as if it had never been.

"Heh…heh," Astrid laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "There's… a magical surprise waiting for you on your home computer that will… spread throughout the rest of the computers in the Shin-Ra building and shut everything down the next time you log on. …I'm the only one who knows how to turn it of… disengage it… undo it… whatever you call it when you remove a virus."

Rufus blinked, bluntly stating, "You're lying."

Astrid shrugged, "You never know."

"You're lying." He repeated.

"I know." She admitted, lowering her eyes and scuffing her feet against the carpet, "I just really don't want to die."

A pause, then the clicking of a gun and the soft scraping of something against the carpet.

"Astrid, go back to your room."

She looked up at Rufus in shock, staring at the top of his head as he sat down and bent back over his paperwork.

He waved an indifferent hand at her, "You're dismissed."

Astrid blinked, then turned slowly and opened the door.

"And Astrid." She froze and turned back, Rufus's blue eyes piercing her green ones, a smirk dancing in their depths, "Happy Birthday."

* * *

The door burst open and a laughing Reno ran in, followed by the rest of the Turks.

Astrid looked up from the Turk manual in shock as Reno ran across the room, dropping down into the chair across from her and let out a laughing, "Congratulations! You survived the firing squad!"

Astrid turned back to the manual, her lips pursed, "I don't find it to be particularly funny."

"You're right, Miss Cray," Tseng said as he sat down and poured himself a cup of tea, "By all accounts, you should have left that room in a body bag."

"But that's what's so great!" Reno insisted, still laughing, "She thought she was, but all she got was a 'Happy Birthday'! And from the most feared man in Gaia! The look on her face was priceless!"

"Shut up, Reno." Elena said calmly, taking out her own Turk manual and perusing it.

Suddenly, the world was jostled back and forth and Astrid fell out of her seat, curling up into a ball on the floor as the chair toppled and fell on top of her. Gritting her teeth, Astrid curled up tighter and waited for the shaking to end. Then, out of nowhere, it stopped as quickly as it had begun. Lastly, there was a beastly shriek.

"Owie." Astrid whined, sitting up and rubbing her arms, "Stupid WEAPON…" It wasn't the first time Sapphire WEAPON had attacked Junon while she had been there, but… 'That was definitely the most violent attack yet.' She stood and looked around, "Everyone alright?"

"Yes." Tseng answered, standing and straightening his hair and suit.

"Uhh… yeah." Elena moaned, untangling herself from the legs of the small table.

"Hmm." Rude walked over and helped Elena, righting the table.

"Crap, that hurt…" Reno muttered, standing and rubbing the back of his head, "That was one of the worst ones, wasn't it?"

Astrid nodded, "I was thinking the same thing… Maybe you guys should go and check on Rufus?"

Reno looked at her, his mouth twitching into a smirk, "Worried about the Prez, are we?"

"He's the only one left to carry the name of Shinra." Astrid said, rolling her eyes, "If he dies, then the Board of Directors takes over the company, and then I'm really screwed."

"Uh huh." Reno said, unconvinced and rolling his eyes, "So, you want to stay here or go with us?"

She thought about it for a moment, turning to Tseng, "Can I?"

The leader of the Turks blinked, a bit shocked, "If you wish." He turned to the rest of the Turks and nodded, "Alright, we're headed to the President's office."

On the way there, the alarms continued to turn on and off and the lights flickered. Soldiers were running helter-skelter, trying to find some way to either make themselves useful or get out of the way.

When the lights turned off again, Astrid reached out and grabbed a hold of Reno's sleeve, "Looks like the power generators were hit."

Reno nodded, "That thing's aim keeps getting better and better…"

When they finally arrived outside the door of Rufus's office, Tseng had to try several times to get the scanner on the door to accept the password, mainly because the power kept cutting out halfway through his attempts, making him start over. By the time they got inside, Rufus was furious.

"Where have you been?!" He snapped, pacing back and forth, "That thing attacked twenty minutes ago!"

"What's wrong, Rufus?" Astrid asked, smirking and crossing her arms, "Nervous because you didn't have you lackeys there to guard your sorry carcass? Unable to take care of yourself?"

Rufus froze, clenching and unclenching his hands. "You…" He spun towards her, his eyes narrowing. He lifted one hand and pointed to her, hissing through gritted teeth, "This is your fault."

"Mine?" Astrid blinked, surprised, "And how is it my fault?"

"You could have done something." Rufus hissed, walking towards her, "If you had been here and had that stupid Book open, you could have known about it and we would have had the defense ready."

Astrid shrugged, "Well, it's not my fault if you had me locked up in some room on the other side of the complex now, is it? If you wanted me keeping watch, you should have had me here." She twitched at this, slapping her hand to her mouth, "Crap."

"Exactly." A grinning Rufus drawled, gesturing to his desk. There was a chair waiting, and the Book in front of it, "Have a seat, Astrid, and get ready to pull your weight."

She would have refused if she had thought it would have gotten her anywhere, but knowing it would be a waste of energy Astrid gave in and walked over to the desk, sitting down and flipping open the Book.

When Rufus sat down across from her and started doing paperwork and the Turks organized themselves around the room, Astrid sighed to herself and shook her head. 'This is going to be oodles of fun.'

* * *

"Gah!" Astrid screamed, clutching her head and slamming her forehead down into the pages of the Book, "Nothing, nothing, and still nothing!" She looked up at Rufus pleadingly, "Can I please take a break?! This isn't getting me anywhere and WEAPON hasn't attacked for three days!"

"But it could, couldn't it?" Rufus asked, not looking up from his paperwork.

"Damn it, Rufus!" She slammed her hands onto the desk and stood, leaning over and shouting, "All this stupid Book keeps telling me is 'Sapphire WEAPON lies in wait', 'Sapphire WEAPON lies in wait', and you know that! If it were going to attack, the Book would flip out! All I'm asking for is the chance to look at something that isn't black and white for about five minutes!"

"Fine." Rufus said, "Take a quick break if you want, just quit screeching about it."

She was going to scream again when she realized that he had actually granted her a break. Hopping up from her seat, Astrid walked around the room and stretched, looking at the blank places where the Turks were usually located.

"How long is their mission going to last?"

Not looking up from his work, Rufus replied, "Until your friends quit trying to steal my Huge Materia."

Astrid fell silent, walking over to the window and looking out. After a moment, she asked, "Do you actually think Scarlet's idea will work? Launching the Huge Materia into space, I mean."

For a moment, Rufus didn't answer. Then, he stood and walked over to the window, standing beside her, "It's all we have, so it had better work."

"Why don't you just let AVALANCHE find a way to beat him and, you know, give them support from the background?"

Rufus looked at her and narrowed his eyes, "Because, they're a group of rogue anarchists who will eventually lead to the fall of order in Gaia."

Astrid rolled her eyes, looking down at the ocean, "Why don't you just say it like it is? They've opposed you at every turn, they've tried and have gotten closer than most to succeeding in overthrowing your regime, and you're throwing a fit over it. On top of that, they've gotten closer than you have at defeating Sephiroth." She looked at Rufus and shook her head, "You know that taking the Huge Materia from the Planet is a bad thing."

Rufus pursed his lips and looked back out the window, "There is no evidence that supports that theo—"

"Don't feed me that load, Rufus." Astrid growled crossing her arms, "Have you not seen that ring of biological zero around Midgar? You know very well that taking that much mako from the Planet can seriously damage the ecosystem, and that it will eventually come back to bite humanity in the ass!"

The president flicked his hair back and sighed, looking at Astrid tiredly, "Like I said, it's all we have right now."

"No, Rufus, it's not." She argued softly, her voice dropping a notch, "You have AVALANCHE, and the only reason you're not willing to let them handle it is your stupid ego. After having them oppose you for so long, letting them handle it would be like admitting defeat, and you're pride wouldn't stand for that."

He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head and sat back down, "Astrid, get back to work."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yes, mein führer." Astrid returned to her seat and opened the Book, flipping to the current page and saying, "The Sapphire WEAPON outside of Junon."

The Book shrieked, and the creepy writing returned.

Astrid bent over it and started reading, only slightly aware that Rufus was leaning forward and doing the same thing.


	43. The Progression of Government

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(The Progression of Government)

Four days later, Astrid stood from her seat again and arched her back, sighing contentedly at the series of loud cracks that ran up her spine. Loose and relaxed, she stepped away from the desk and walked around a bit, twirling her ankles and wrists to get the same satisfying series of snaps.

Over the course of the days, Rufus had become more and more lax, so she no longer had to ask permission to take a break. Other than her periodic joint-cracking breaks reminding him of her existence, Rufus actually forgot about her several times.

As it turned out, both Rufus and Astrid were quiet workers who were easily buried in their work and who also both had a habit for forgetting the world around them and slipping into personal tics as they worked.

Rufus, for example, was a finger-drummer. After getting into his work for longer than five minutes, he would unconsciously reach out with his right hand and drum his fingers on the surface of his desk over and over, never realizing he was doing it until something brought him back to reality. Most of the time, he would tap his fingers to a militaristic-type beat, though sometimes he slipped into a more classical piano-type beat.

The president was also a lip-biter, a foot-tapper, and a leg-bouncer.

For Astrid, one of her biggest tics was what the Turks and Rufus came to call 'the librarian tic'. When she got really into her work, Astrid would unconsciously pull her hair back into either a bun or a ponytail, hunch over the Book, and organize everything within her reach according to size and, sometimes, alphabetical order. And, whenever she got her hands on a pen, she would always dismantle it and arrange all of the pieces according to order in which she removed them.

She was also a pen-clicker, a tongue-sticker-outer, and a face-scruncher.

Though neither of them really realized they had these tics, the Turks did, and this led to hours of entertainment for the usually bored bodyguards, especially when these tics led to arguments.

On one occasion, for example, Astrid, in her 'librarian tic', accidentally reached out and took the pen Rufus had been using. He had set it down to pick up another paper just as she was reaching out to grab something. The pen was in her hands and dismantled in a flash, sitting in a neatly organized area just to the right of the Book.

When Rufus reached out for his pen and found nothing, his eyes automatically flew to Astrid and his lips pursed, "Astrid, may I have my pen back?"

"Huh?" She asked, looking up from the Book. Her eyes were bleary and there was a red arch starting at her forehead and working around and down her cheek from where she had been leaning against her hand. She flicked a stray bang out of her face and looked at the pen she had dismantled, nodding, "Sure." The pen was back together a moment later and in the president's hand.

Rufus frowned and got back to his paperwork, "You really need to stop doing that."

Astrid sighed and rolled her eyes, "Then maybe you should consider not leaving your things in my reach. You know I don't know what I'm doing when I'm zoned out."

"Then perhaps you should consider learning to control your tendencies." He came back coolly, looking up at her, "How do you expect me to get all of this paperwork concerning your friends done if you keep interrupting?"

"Quit referring to them as 'my friends'. They're just as much yours as they are mine." Astrid said, looking back down at the Book.

Rufus paused, then looked up at her, a brow quirked, "Are you relinquishing their friendship?"

"No." Astrid said, looking up and blinking, "I'm pointing out the fact that they're my friends and yours."

Rufus frowned, "No, they're not."

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

In the back, the Turks exchanged glances and smirked to each other. This was going to get interesting…

"Yes, they are." Astrid insisted, scratching her nose, "You really need to lay claim to some form of friendship in this world, Rufus, or you're going to end up dying old and alone like your old man."

The Turks winced.

'Oooh… that was a low blow.'

'Below the belt, that one.'

'Ouch.'

'Not a smart move.'

They then exchanged glances again, smirking. 'This is going to get good.'

Rufus's eyes narrowed, "I have plenty of friends, Astrid, and even if I didn't I wouldn't need any. I will not end up like my father because I am not my father. I am a better man and ruler."

Astrid shrugged, looking back down at the Book, "Sure, whatever you say." She paused, looking back up and smiling slyly, "But, you, Cloud and the others do make a rather cute group of friends, you know. Quite the colorful bunch, you all."

His eye twitched.

Her smile grew, "Yep, I did it. I used 'Rufus', 'Cloud' and 'cute' in the same sentence, and managed to leave out 'is' and 'are'." She stood and raised a hand, "Someone, give me a prize!"

Reno ran forward and gave her a high-five, then ran back to his position.

Astrid laughed, "Oh, yeah!" She then sat back down and turned back to the Book as if nothing had happened.

So, the next three days progressed in this fashion until it became a routine. Then, three days became a week, a week became a month, and suddenly Astrid found herself receiving a paycheck.

"What the hell is this?" She asked, looking down at the small, rectangular piece of paper Rufus had given her in confusion.

"That," Rufus said, leaning back in his chair, "Is what is known as a 'pay stub'. Basically the same thing as a check, only in a different format so that my treasurer can keep track of Shin-Ra's money. It signifies a direct transaction from your paycheck to your back account, figuring in all of the taxes and dues and whatnot." When she stared at him blankly, Rufus rolled his eyes, "I'm telling you you're on Shin-Ra's payroll. You're an employee of Shin-Ra."

Astrid looked at the paper in her hand, then at Rufus, then back at the paper, then back at Rufus, "Why?"

The president sighed and shook his head, "I'm not going to do this." He then waved to Tseng, "If you will."

Tseng nodded to Astrid when she turned to face him, "You're sitting in here with the same hours as the President, which are noticeably longer than most other Shin-Ra employees, and you're basically working to keep the President and the rest of Junon safe. Thus, in a sense, you're doing work the Public Safety Maintenance branch is unable to take care of, thus you are taking away work from Heidegger, SOLDIER and the Turks, thus you should be receiving some sort of compensation for this. So, you are now an employee of Shin-Ra, and as such you will be receiving a check at the end of every week, signifying the hard hours you are putting into keeping Gaia safe each and every day."

Astrid, who had been silent throughout all of this, turned to Rufus and quirked a brow, "And it took you a month to figure this out… why?"

Rufus rolled his eyes, "Be happy you're getting anything."

She blinked, looking back down at the paper, "You know I can't read this, right? I mean, I get that it's 800 and that it's in gil, but that's about it…" She paused, frowning and looking back up at Rufus, "I'm getting 800 a week? I have a bank account?" She paused again, her eyes widening, "I WORK FOR YOU?!"

Rufus sighed, "Yes, I know you can't read it. Yes, you're getting 800 a week. Yes, you have a bank account through Shin-Ra. And yes, you work for me." He paused, then smirked, "Does this thought intimidate you?"

"Not really." Astrid replied vapidly, "I honestly couldn't care less if I got fired." She smiled sheepishly, "Though I would appreciate not getting fired my first week… This is, after all, my first actual job." After thinking about it for a moment, she frowned, "Hey, how come I can't read Gaian but you can read the Book? And why am I just now thinking of this?!"

Rufus shrugged, "The Book is written in a language similar to that of the Ancients, which isn't exactly a dead language just yet. And, as for the second question, you're just slow. Now," He continued, speaking over her attempts at angry protests, "One of the dues taken out of your paycheck is the cost of a tutor to teach you to read Gaian. I refuse to have one of my higher-ranking employees be illiterate when her main job is reading and interpreting information. Thus, I have taken the liberty of hiring you a tutor."

Astrid frowned, "And who would that be?"

Rufus smirked, "My old tutor." He nodded to Tseng, "If you would."

Tseng stepped forward and bowed, "Hello, Miss Cray. From this point on, I shall be your language tutor."

Astrid stared at Tseng with wide eyes, only able to think of one thing to say.

"Fuck."

"Now, now, Miss Cray." Tseng chided, straightening and smirking, "That kind of language is unacceptable in my class."

Astrid turned to Rufus, her eyes still wide, "This is cruel and unusual."

Rufus smirked, "How so?"

She twitched, "This is Tseng we're talking about! He's on the same level as my old teacher, Dr. Creon! Smart, elegant, clever, intense, eloquent, and so damn capable it's scary! This guy is going to kill me with smartness!"

Rufus quirked a brow dryly, "It's not as if you're an idiot, Astrid."

"I know, but I'm a poor student!" She exclaimed, twitching, "I'm lazy and I have a disposition to the procrastination! The only thing holding me back is myself, and I'm one lazy bitch! I'll never get out of my way fast enough to meet the standards of someone like Tseng, who's probably never even dreamed of slacking off on a single assignment!"

"You do this well enough." Rufus said, pointing to the Book.

"This is different." Astrid said, also pointing to the Book, "I can get into this. With learning, it's different. There's this little voice inside of my head that pops up every time I'm sitting in class and gets me to go off on these wild discussions about the most random things you can think about! Like the other day, when you were lecturing to me about… not signing your papers 'The Immense Dickhead' or something, she and I started talking about cheese! I never knew I knew that much about dairy products until we started talking about it, and now I know I'm a freaking connoisseur of Chouda!" (chocobo + Gouda)

"You'll do perfectly fi—"

The alarms started going off and the Turks jumped into action, surrounding both Rufus and Astrid and holding their weapons ready. Dark Nation jumped up from her place on the sofa in the middle of the room and bound over to the desk, spinning to face the door, her hackles rising.

"Astrid!"

She nodded to Rufus, "Right." She then looked down at the Book, "What set off the alarms?"

**SSSSHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

_**Astrid… the Highwind has returned… Cloud and the others are making their way to you… be prepared to choose…**_

Astrid looked up from the Book, ignoring the intense stares she was getting from Rufus and the Turks. She turned and walked past Dark Nation, rubbing the hellcat's head absentmindedly.

'They found Cloud… and now they're here for me. I could leave and we could all resume the journey together… But I have a choice. Question is, is it really an easy choice to make. …Yes… and no…'

She came to a stop in the center of the room, clasping her arms behind her back and standing straight, thinking carefully about what she was going to say. When the group finally burst in, she was ready…

"Astrid!" Cloud shouted, pointing his sword at Rufus, "Get over here now! We're getting you out."

Astrid took a deep breath. 'Here it goes.'

"No, Cloud, you're not."

Cloud, though, didn't seem to hear her. He stalked past her and over to Rufus, still holding out his sword. The Turks formed a tighter ring around the president, Dark Nation growled loudly, and Rufus's hand dove inside of his coat, but they were all stopped when Astrid ran ahead of Cloud and stood before the blade, the pointed tip sinking into her neck and a thin rivulet of blood trailing down her neck.

When Cloud looked at her in shock, she blinked, "Will you listen to me, please?"

Cloud paused, then nodded and lowered his sword. The rest of the party watched in shock and confusion.

Astrid ignored all of them, though, and focused on Cloud. "When I started this journey, I thought my path would lead to me saving my brother and helping save Gaia as well I could… at the sides of you and the others. But, a few months ago, something happened. Marcus died, and I was forced to reevaluate the way I thought about things.

"In truth, I am an ineffectual fighter. I was trained to fight with an epée, but all I have available to me is the thinnest, lightest longsword on the market. My backup weapon is a gun heavier than one of my legs and almost as long, and sometimes it takes me both hands to hold it. Though Vincent has done a magnificent job of training me," She nodded to the claret-eyed man, smiling, "And I have had my 'potential' unlocked by Marcus, I still feel awkward fighting, mainly because I have more power than I know what to do with and I haven't been 'fighting' fighting for long enough to be able to sort myself out on the battlefield.

"There is, though, one thing I am good at, and that is using the Book. With it, I can look into the present and help protect the people of Gaia from threats that no one else can see quickly enough to prepare for. Eventually, I might even be able to learn to 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate' and help Gaia and her people even more. But, I feel that my abilities are best utilized here, with Shin-Ra.

"Yes, I like AVALANCHE and its ideals." She nodded to Tifa and Barret and smiled, "And yes, I agree that the health of the Planet must be preserved. But, I also like Shin-Ra in the sense that it gives Gaia the government it needs to keep it from falling into anarchy, which would eventually hurt the planet more than even Shin-Ra could if it tried. And this is what I was trying to tell you two earlier." She looked to Barret and Tifa again. "It's something I like to call the 'Progression of Government'.

"All mankind starts with the tendencies of anarchy, or lawlessness. Then, people eventually want a government, so an autocracy is born. This is Shin-Ra." She gestured to Rufus, "A tyranny that not everyone likes, but still manages to get things done quickly and efficiently. It keeps Gaia in line and handles situations when a crisis arises, like the Wutai War, the Rise of Jenova and now the Fall of Meteor. True, these are all controversial matters, but Shin-Ra is managing to handle them to the best of their abilities and keep the people as calm as they're going to get.

"Eventually, enough people will get sick of Shin-Ra ruling and monopolizing the Planet and a revolution will occur. Shin-Ra will be pushed out of power and, more than likely, and oligarchy, or rule by a council, will take its place. Eventually, yet another revolution will take place and a democracy will take control, because all mankind eventually wants to agree to disagree and rule itself the best it can with limited supreme/group rule. All mankind has democratic tendencies and wants to be able to make decisions for itself, yet still have someone in charge.

"So, yes, Shin-Ra will eventually fall." She looked at everyone in the room pointedly, "But not yet. Until enough of Gaia is ready to take charge of the people, Shin-Ra is still necessary, thus I will not be helping you overthrow them." She looked at Barret. "This is also, in part, why I will not be going with you."

She took a breath and looked at the party, smiling, "You all… are some of the best friends I have ever had, and I want to thank you for coming here for me… but I'm going to have to ask that you leave without me. You see, I'm… needed here, at Shin-Ra. I'm needed to make sure that Rufus doesn't do anything stupid, and even though he'll be the last one to admit it, I do have influence around here." She smiled sadly, "I want to help Gaia, I really do, and I can… if I stay here and help Shin-Ra."

She stopped for a moment, then scratched the back of her head, "Whoooo… so, do you understand?"

Cloud blinked, "Not really." When she deadpanned, Cloud smirked, "But I think I get the basic idea, and I agree." He turned to the group and nodded, "Alright, we're off."

"What?!" Tifa and Yuffie exclaimed, looking between Cloud and Astrid.

"You actually bought that load of #&?!" Cid shouted, waving a fist.

Barret slapped his head and groaned, "What the hell is going on, here?!"

Red XIII blinked, "I'm not sure… but I believe Astrid is out of the group."

"Yep." Cait Sith said, shaking his head, "She is."

Cloud nodded, "That's right." He turned to Astrid and threw her her PHS. "Keep that on you, just in case." He looked past her and glared at Rufus, "I'll be calling her at random times, and if she doesn't answer more than three times in a row I'll assume that you took it away from her and we'll all come back and take her, no matter what she says."

Rufus didn't say anything.

Yuffie and Tifa ran forward, pulling Astrid into a hug.

"We'll miss you!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Are you sure about this?" Tifa asked, stepping back and looking Astrid up and down, "You don't have to do this, you know. We could always beat Shin-Ra into submission if we have to."

"I'm sure." Astrid said, smiling and nodding.

Cid scratched the back of his head, scowling, "#&3 crazy kid… but you have to have a #&#-load of guts to be willing to stay here."

Astrid laughed, "Thanks, Cid."

Cait Sith waddled forward, wrapping his huge moogle and tiny cat arms around her and hugging her. "I'll be keeping an eye on you." Reeve's voice said in a whisper, switching back to the squeaky cat voice and wailing, "I don't wanna leave you!"

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, "Quit crying, I'll be fine!"

"Kid," She turned to Barret, who was glaring down at her, "If you get yourself killed… AVALANCHE will never forgive you."

"Of course not." Astrid nodded, smiling, "I'll make sure to stay alive, then."

"Astrid." Red XIII nuzzled her hand, rubbing the side of his face against hers when she had knelt down, "Thank you… for everything."

"Come on! It's not like we'll never see each other again!" But she hugged the cat/hound anyway.

Lastly, Cloud stepped forward and nodded, "Good luck. You're welcome to rejoin us at anytime… just call and we'll come pick you up."

She nodded, "Thanks, Cloud."

The man nodded again, then turned and waved the group out the door, "Let's get going!" They all poured out and disappeared, the doors slamming with a sense of finality.

After a moment, Astrid turned to Rufus's desk and smiled to everyone, "Well, that takes care of that!" She skipped back over to the desk and sat down, hunching over the Book.

"…Was that a wise decision?" Tseng asked after a moment, making Astrid look up.

She shrugged, "I don't know about 'wise', but it was the decision I decided to make, and I plan on sticking with it to the end. Now, let's get back to work, shall we?"

Silently, the Turks walked back to their posts and Dark Nation walked back to her sofa, leaving Rufus staring at Astrid with a blank face.

"…Did you mean that?" He asked after a moment.

Astrid looked up again and blinked, "Mean what, specifically? I said a lot back there."

"That Shin-Ra is good for the Planet."

"Oh, undoubtedly." Astrid nodded, "But I also meant what I said about it eventually falling. Don't worry," She assured, "It probably won't happen during your reign, but Shin-Ra's control of Gaia definitely won't last forever. For now, though, Shin-Ra is what is best for the Planet." That said, she turned back to the Book.

Rufus stared at her for a moment longer, then turned to his paperwork, signing a document with a particularly violent stroke as Astrid started to unconsciously click a pen.


	44. What's ShinRa Without the Company Party?

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(What's Shin-Ra Without the Company Party?)

"Is it seriously that time of the year again?" Rufus moaned, leaning back in his chair, "Can't we just skip it?"

Tseng sighed. He hated this time of the year, too. It was so much harder to get Rufus to agree to anything, "Sir, if we don't hold the annual company party, then the people may sense hesitance, which may lead to panic. We need this to assure the people that everything is under control."

"It's a party!" Rufus shouted, "Like a party can say anything about the state of the company!"

"Yes, sir, it can." Tseng said, shaking his head.

Rufus thought about it for a moment, then sighed, "Can I just… hold it and not go, then?"

Tseng raised a brow, "Not attend your own party? That would be considered poor hosting, which would reflect poorly on your image."

Unable to be silent any longer, Astrid looked up from the Book and asked, "What's so bad about a party? I didn't think Shin-Ra had it in them to hold a party, but it can't be all that bad, can it?"

"It can be for the President." Tseng said, frowning, "It requires that he be cordial and non-threatening, two things he's not exactly the best at being."

"On top of that," Rufus went on, scowling, "I have to listen to members of the company go on and on for hours about how much they enjoy working for Shin-Ra, how much Shin-Ra has improved their lives, how their children can't wait to work for Shin-Ra… Shin-Ra, Shin-Ra, Shin-Ra! That's all it is!"

Astrid quirked a brow, "I'd think your ego would enjoy that."

Rufus glared at her, "They'll all be speaking in reference to my father, not me. I haven't been president long enough for any of the talk to be about me, and since my father died so recently, all of the talk will be in commemoration of him."

"And how long is this party?" Astrid asked, frowning slightly.

"Seven hours."

She winced at this.

"Exactly." Rufus said, shaking his head, "Seven hours of hearing about my father… I'm going to want to run myself through with a rusty wooden spatula by the time it's all over."

Astrid thought about it for a moment, scratching her neck, "Well, who all is going? There has to be someone you can talk to… for seven hours…"

"Company party, so it would be all of my employees… including the Board and the Turks, and…" Rufus paused, a grin spreading across his face, "All of my employees…" He sat up and looked at her, his grin wider than ever.

"Rufus…" Astrid stood, backing away slowly, "I don't like it when you smile like that… it means you're planning something…"

"Planning something? No." Rufus answered, shaking his head. "I'm just about to point out the fact that you're a victim of circumstance."

Astrid frowned, "Victim of circumsta—?... No!" She jumped back, shaking her head, "No, no, no, no, no!"

Rufus laughed and nodded, "Oh hohoho, yes! You are a Shin-Ra employee, so you will be attending the party!"

"Like hell I will!" Astrid shouted, hunkering down and glaring at her boss, "Parties and I don't mix, at all!"

"Too bad." Rufus said, shrugging and smirking evilly, "You're going." He leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head, sighing, "Ah, maybe this party won't be so bad, after all."

* * *

Astrid fiddled with her coat nervously, shooting a glare at Rufus, "I hate you."

The president shrugged, straightening the cuffs of his suit, "And I love to watch you squirm."

"Sadistic bastard."

Rufus smirked, "That pantsuit looks very becoming."

"I despise you." She hissed.

"I could always send the pantsuit back and order you a dress…"

The Turks sighed and rolled their eyes as their boss and their coworker fought, smirking when the president's last remark made Astrid purse her lips and glare down at her heels.

'Mako, I hate heels…' They had been the one thing she hadn't been able to talk Rufus out of, and the one thing he had picked out himself. She glared at the heels, 'And the only reason he did that was so he could pick the most inhumane heels available.'

Astrid sighed and looked out the window of the car, frowning at how late in the evening it was. "So, why are we going so late, anyway? I thought you would have to be there early, as the host and all."

Rufus scoffed and flicked back his bang, "As if I would actually go there on time and be there for seven hours. I avoided it as long as possible and managed to shave two hours off of our stay, and by the time we get there we'll only have to stay for four hours and thirty minutes, give or take."

"Who called to remind you?" When Rufus threw her a questioning look, Astrid shrugged, "So I know who to target later."

"Palmer." Rufus answered, looking out the window, "As much as I agree he should pay, it shouldn't be during a public event. It would reflect upon Shin-Ra poorly, so if anything happens to him during this party, you'll be punished severely."

Astrid frowned, "Even if it isn't me?"

"Even if it isn't you." Rufus looked at her and smirked, "So you might want to keep a close eye on him."

Astrid turned to her window and sighed, moaning when the car came to a stop in front of a large building.

Her door opened and a gloved hand reached inside, stopping in front of her. She stared at it in confusion, taking it when Rufus gave her a slight nudge in the middle her back. The hand belonged to a clean man in a tux, who bowed to her.

"Welcome to the Junon Gala, Madame."

"Heh heh, thanks." Astrid stepped aside and waited nervously as Rufus and the Turks got out, taking the opportunity to look around. With the exception of a few well dressed people milling around on the steps, the front of the building was largely clear.

"Looks like we've arrived at a good time." Rufus said as he stepped up beside her, looking around, "The paparazzi cleared out."

"They are already inside, sir." The usher said, bowing, "As are the rest of your guests."

Rufus nodded, "Good, after two hours they'll have had enough wine to assure that they're good and lethargic." He turned to Astrid and the Turks, nodding, "Let's get it over with, then."

Tseng nodded, turning to the Turks, "We'll go in at different intervals to blend in with the crowd. Elena, you go with Reno. Rude and I will go in later."

No one but Astrid seemed to notice the crestfallen look on Elena's face, and she couldn't help but intervene. "Actually, I think it would be better if Elena went with you, Tseng."

Elena looked at her with wide eyes, her mouth opening slightly.

Tseng looked at her and blinked, "Oh?"

Astrid nodded, her face serious, "Yeah. I mean, come on; Reno?" She looked Reno up and down, shaking her head, "Even when he does bother to tuck in his shirt, he gives off this 'slacker' vibe, while Elena…" She waved to Elena, "Is… Elena! It would seem so out of character for someone like Elena to go in with someone like Reno. And Rude is way too tall. You, on the other hand, are more 'in profile', and you're shorter than Rude." She looked between Elena and Tseng, nodding, "You two, much better match… For espionage reasons, of course."

Tseng looked at Elena, who was gapping at Astrid. When Elena saw her leader looking at her, she looked at her shoes and coughed, a slight blush forming on her face.

After a moment, Tseng nodded, "I see your point." He straightened himself and held out his arm, "Elena?"

The woman squeaked slightly, then reached out and took his arm, refusing to look at him.

Tseng nodded, looking at Reno and Rude, "You two, then." He led Elena to the door, the woman turning and throwing Astrid a helpless look.

Astrid cackled when they had walked through the door, "Hehe, you're welcome, Elena." She turned to Reno, Rude, and Rufus, still smirking.

Reno shook his head and laughed, "You're one conniving bitch, you know that?"

"Haha, but of course." Astrid threw out her right arm and bowed, twisting her wrist.

Reno laughed again, then turned to Rude and nodded, "Alright, let's go." He and Rude walked in, leaving Astrid and Rufus alone.

Rufus sighed and held out his arm, "Shall we, then?"

Astrid looked at the arm, then back up at Rufus, "Eh?"

The president sighed and rolled his eyes, "This is a formal occasion so all of the women here are required to have an escort."

Astrid blinked, turning to the building and shouting, "Reno! Get back out here!"

"Too late for that." Rufus said, taking her arm and wrapping it in his, "Now, remember your manners and let's go." And he half led, half drug her up the stairs and into the Gala.

The entire building consisted, of several rooms connected by high, elegant arches. Each room had its own ornate color scheme and buffet, but the front right room was reserved specifically for the band.

In the foyer, butlers in tailed tuxedos took their coats and a small man in a bright red suit stepped forward and announced, "President Rufus Shinra and…" He trailed off, looking at Astrid contemptuously.

"And Astrid Cray." Rufus said, glaring down at the man.

"…And Astrid Cray." The man finished, lowering his eyes.

Rufus nodded, pulling Astrid further into the room.

"Can we go now?" She asked after a moment, twitching slightly as the Shin-Ra employees bowed to Rufus and stared at her, "This is really awkward."

"No, not yet." Rufus answered, plastering on a smile and nodding to several people, "I have to stay here for the rest of the evening and be there to bid the guests a farewell at the door."

"Talk about your ancient customs." Astrid muttered, smiling slightly when someone actually nodded to her.

"These sorts of events are very traditional." Rufus said, leading her through the band room, "The rules have changed very little since Shin-Ra was first founded."

"President Rufus!" They looked past the dancing couples and to the tables in the back, where the Board was sitting at a large table. Reeve was waving to them, "Over here!"

Rufus walked around the dance floor, speaking to Astrid as they walked, "I'll have to leave you with the Turks beyond this; the main table is for the President and the Board only."

Astrid nodded, "Alright. So, what exactly is expected of me here?"

"Be cordial and reserved, and do not do anything stupid." He glanced down at her, "Think you can handle that?"

"For a while." She looked up at him, "Don't know what I can promise after that, though." She broke away from him when she saw Reno waving at her. Throwing a grin over her shoulder, she waved, "Later."

Walking towards Reno, she sat down at the table he and Rude were at and sighed, shaking her head.

"President getting to you?" Reno asked.

"Eh?" She looked up at the Turk, shaking her head, "Nah, it's just this party. Too many people. And the music is so… dull." She listened to the score for a moment, frowning, "No words at all. Entirely classical."

"Well, these parties are usually a bore." Reno said, leaning back in his chair, "There hasn't been an actual 'fun' one since the President was a kid and took matters into his own hands."

Astrid quirked a brow, "What did he do?"

Reno smirked, "He was mad that everyone kept cutting him off at the buffet, so he put ex-lax in the punch bowel."

Rude shook his head, "Terrible ordeal."

Astrid gapped at them for a moment, then buried her face in her hands and laughed, "Holy materia!" When she was done laughing, she looked around, "Where are Tseng and Elena?"

"On the dance floor." Rude answered, smirking slightly, "'Gathering intel', as Elena put it."

"Hehe. Go, Elena." Astrid muttered, smirking and leaning back in her seat.

"Excuse me." Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and Astrid looked up into the face of a smiling man. "May I have this dance?"

Astrid blinked, "Wha?"

"She'd love to." Reno answered, rushing around the table and helping Astrid to her feet, pushing her towards the man. "Have fun!" He shouted to her as the man led her out on the dance floor.

The man spun her in a circle and began to lead, smiling at her, "Hello. My name is Link… James Link." He had a dazzling smile, dazzling green eyes, dazzlingly slicked hair, and dazzlingly friendly hands.

"Not interested." Astrid said sharply, moving his hands back up to her back.

James Link's smile hitched slightly, but he continued to guide her across the floor, clearly not about to let her go.

'Be cordial…' Astrid sighed to herself, remembering Rufus's words. 'If I weren't worried about him killing me, I'd have kneed this jerk already.' When his hands started traveling again, she sighed loudly and moved them back up. 'Better yet, I'd have gutted him.'

"It's alright." James whispered, leaning in, "Loosen up… I'm not going to hurt you." He started working his hands in slow circles, slowly moving them down.

"I said I'm not interested." Astrid hissed, grabbing his hands again, only to have him grab her wrists, "Hey!—"

He nuzzled her neck, shutting her up, "Calm down."

"May I cut in?" The both turned towards the voice, the imposingly tall Rude glaring down from behind his glasses, "Is there a problem?"

"N-no! Not at all!" James stepped back, smiling tautly and bowing to Astrid, "Good evening…" He then turned and ran off.

"Thanks, Rude." Astrid muttered as he took her hand and started to guide her.

"It was nothing." The tall man answered.

They danced silently for a moment, Tseng and Elena dancing up at one point.

"Is everything alright?" Tseng asked, looking at Astrid's face closely.

She smiled at him rigidly, "Fine, just fine. Rude saved me in time."

"I would have done something, but I thought you would have taken action first." Elena said, frowning, "Why didn't you?"

Astrid sighed and rolled her eyes, "Rufus ordered me not to do anything stupid."

Elena's frown deepened, "And you choose now of all times to actually listen to him?"

"This is a big event." Tseng said, guiding Elena in a circle around Rude and Astrid, "Now is the time she needs to exercise self-restraint. Besides, we're keeping an eye on her, as well." The leader of the Turks nodded to Astrid, "That was well done, though if it happens again remember you have our PHS numbers."

Astrid nodded, "Right." The song ended and she curtsied slightly to Rude, "Thanks for the dance and the save, Rude."

Rude nodded, then turned to lead her off of the floor.

Astrid was willingly following him until she noticed something; a dancing Rufus. Considering he was the host, she was about to brush it off, but then she noticed something; Rufus wasn't having fun in the least.

Sure, he was smiling and nodding politely to his partner as they danced and he was leading her through the steps well enough, but his body language said he was dying in his skin. His eyes were too focused on one spot of his partner's face, his hold on her was too loose, borderline pushing her away, and he was leading her in small, agitated circles. On top of that, he had that amusing twitch in his cheek that came out whenever his smile was forced.

Astrid leaned in closer to Rude and whispered, "Hey, you up to saving the President?"

Rude looked to where she was looking, nodding, "Alright."

They both took their dance positions and Rude led her over to where Rufus was, lining them up side by side. When the beat of the song called for a partner switch, Astrid quickly nudged the woman aside and took Rufus's hand, leaving Rude to grab the woman and lead her back across the floor.

Rufus stared at Astrid in shock, blinking.

Astrid smirked, "What? Surprised?"

He shook his head, frowning slightly, "What was that for?"

She shrugged, "You didn't look like you were having fun, so I decided to save you. Was that a bad thing?"

"Not in the least." Rufus answered, glancing to his left, "Look over there."

She looked discretely, blinking at the table of girls now glaring at her. The woman she had just taken the place of stomped over to the table and sat down, joining her friends in glaring.

"Fan club?"

Rufus nodded, "Yes, and one of the most adamant." He looked at her, "You might want to watch your back. These women can be quite… vicious."

"They're not the only ones who can fight dirty, and I probably have a lot more experience with weapons than they do." Astrid said, smirking, "Besides, I have both the Turks and Dark Nation on my side."

Rufus smirked back, then coughed and shook his head, "Thank you, by the way." When she looked at him blankly, he elaborated, "For saving me."

Astrid shrugged, "No problem."

The song ended and Rufus stepped back, bowing to her. Astrid followed with a curtsy, allowing Rufus to take her by the arm and lead her back to the seating area.

At the table with the Turks, Rufus pulled out her chair, bowing to her again. "Good evening." He turned on his heel and walked back to the main table.

Astrid sighed and turned to the table, quirking a brow at the grins the Turks were throwing her. "What?"

"Nice of you to save the President." Reno said, crossing his arms and grinning.

She caught on immediately and glared at him, "Go womanize someone, you hawk."

Reno raised his hands in surrender and sat back, still smirking.

Astrid shook her head and stood, "I'm going to the buffet." She walked away from the table, fuming as she weaved through chairs and bodies. 'Suggestive… presumptuous weasels. As if I'd actually… anything with Rufus! …I'll admit, though, he does look rather handsome in a tux… GAH! WHAT AM I THINKING?!' She shook her head and poured herself a cup of punch, walking out a pair of nearby glass doors and into a garden. 'I've been hanging around them too much.'

She walked over to the stone railing and leaned against it, looking out across the garden and taking a deep breath of the night air.

"This spot taken?"

"Hmm?" She looked over at who had walked up beside her, blinking and narrowing her eyes, "Can I help you?"

James Link shrugged, leaning against the railing casually, "I think you and I got off on the wrong foot, and I'd like to start over."

"Not interested." Astrid said, looking back out over the garden, "Now please leave before I—"

"Call that big friend of yours?" James asked, smirking, "I don't think so." He reached out and grabbed her by the elbow, his thumb digging into a pressure point. When Astrid leaned forward and gasped, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and led her into the shadows, Astrid completely defenseless. He slammed her against the wall, nuzzling her neck, "Now, where were we?"

When his hands became preoccupied with roaming, Astrid took the opportunity to let her hands slide to the two PHS's in her pocket. 'Need help… Help!'

"I don't think so." James's hand grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the wall, at which point Astrid let panic take control.

"ASSAULT! RA—" She was cut off when he punched her jaw. When she started to flail, he pressed his body against hers heavily. She was about to smash her forehead into his when his leaned forward and bit into her neck hard, teeth hitting another pressure point. A flash went through her body and her nerve endings felt tingly. 'Shit…'

James lifted his head and grinned, eyes boring into hers, "Let's get started."

Astrid tried to call for help, but all that came out was a moan.

"Sorry, time's up." James looked over his shoulder, stumbling back when he met the ice-blue eyes glaring at him.

"P-p-president Rufus!"

Rufus grabbed James by his collar and yanked him back, "I suggest you cool off for a moment." He then punched James in the stomach, letting the man fall to the ground. The president reached into his pocket and pulled out his PHS, dialing a number and glaring down at James, "…Tseng. Get the others and come out to the terrace, now." He hung up sharply, turning and looking down at Astrid.

"Ru…fus…" She smiled at him lightly, "Thanks."

"What did I tell you?"

Astrid blinked, "What?"

Rufus walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder, glaring at her, "I told you not to do anything stupid, didn't I?! And here you are—"

"It's not like I wanted it to ha—"

"Shut up!" Rufus roared, smacking her. She fell into a stunned silence and he let her go, watching her slide to the ground, "I tell you not to do anything stupid only to come out here and catch you and some man crawling all over each other! How dense are you?!"

At that moment, the doors to the terrace burst open and the Turks ran out. Rude and Reno ran to James, picking him up and bending his arms behind his back. Tseng and Elena ran to Rufus, the latter gasping when she saw Astrid and kneeling beside her.

"Astrid?! What happened?!"

"It was this guy." Rude said, glaring down at James, "He approached her earlier and tried to get fresh with her on the dance floor. She turned him down, but he kept pushing."

"Rude had to intervene." Tseng finished, his eyes narrowing at James.

"Astrid?" Elena gently lifted Astrid's face and looked into her eyes searchingly, "Did he force himself on you?"

Astrid just blinked, turning her head away and staring at the lights in the garden. They looked so nice…

"Astrid." Elena grabbed her chin a bit more forcefully, turning her head back, "I need you to answer me."

"It's nothing, alright?" Astrid said, refusing to look Elena in the eye, "Don't bother with me."

Elena sighed and shook her head, pulling Astrid to her feet and looking her up and down. "She's got a nasty bruise growing on her neck." The female Turk said, her brow furrowing when she looked at it closer, "And there are still indentations from teeth around it." When her hand brushed over Astrid's elbow and she saw her wince, Elena unbuttoned the cuff and pulled the sleeve up, "She's also got two bruises forming on her elbow…" Elena turned and looked at Tseng seriously, "He used pressure points against her."

Tseng nodded, staring at the bruises on her neck, "And, if he applied them forcefully enough, she wouldn't have been able to fight back." Tseng turned to Rufus and pursed his lips, "Astrid was clearly assaulted, and it looks like she was defenseless against him…"

"He's a Turk trainee." Reno said suddenly, holding up a card, "ID card I just pulled out of his pocket. And, he had this." He held up the Turk manual, sneering, "He was in training to be one of us."

"Well, not anymore." Tseng said forcefully, glaring at James, "When this is over, he'll never be able to hold a job at Shin-Ra or anywhere else again."

James said nothing.

"Let's go." Elena said suddenly, taking off her jacket and putting it around Astrid's shoulders, "The party is over." The woman led Astrid down the steps and into the garden, taking a path around the building to the parking lot.

Tseng called up two soldiers and had them take James away, leaving himself, Reno, and Rude to lead Rufus to the car.

The whole time, Rufus was silent.


	45. Not The Same

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Not The Same)

After the party, Astrid became incredibly silent. She had Elena request a transfer out of Junon, and was shipped to Midgar overnight. The few things she had were cleared out of her room and Rufus's off before the president got back to work the day after the gala.

Rufus, who had become accustomed to walking into his office and seeing Astrid already working at his desk, was surprised when she wasn't there.

"She requested a transfer." Tseng said without Rufus asking. "She was cleared, packed her things, and was sent to Midgar last night. She's now working in Reeve's department."

"Is that so?" Rufus asked, taking his seat behind his desk. For a moment, he didn't do anything. Then, he turned to Elena and asked, "How was she?"

"Physically, fine. The doctors had her healed in no time. Mentally on the other hand…" She shook her head, "Something was wrong with her, and I don't think all of it was the assault."

"President, what did you say to her?" Reno burst, a frown on his face, "She seemed perfectly fine even after he came onto her the first time, but the second time… it was a worse attack, I know that, but you were there before us. Did you two… say anything to each other?"

"Reno," Elena hissed, glaring at him, "Shut u—"

"No." Reno said firmly, glaring at her, "Something happened to one of my friends, and I want to know everything, even if it means getting fired by this—"

"Get a helicopter to Midgar ready." Rufus said suddenly, standing and gathering several papers, "We'll be transferring back to Midgar, ourselves." He started to walk out of his office, stopping to look at the sofa, "Where's Dark Nation?"

"She went back with Astrid." Tseng answered, "She was at her side as soon as Astrid stepped foot back inside of the building and wouldn't leave her alone."

Rufus frowned, "Get the helicopter ready immediately."

* * *

Reeve waited for the blades to slow before he ran over to the helicopter, opening the door for the president. "Good to see you back in Midgar, sir! How are things in Junon?" He shouted above the roar of the engines.

Rufus nodded, shouting back, "Well enough. Where is she?"

Reeve took a moment to answer, shaking his head, "We should go inside to talk about this."

Rufus nodded again, following the man across the roof and through the roof office. "How is she?" He asked once they were in the elevator and on their way to Reeve's floor.

"…Sir, I'm not sure it would be a good idea for you to see her." Reeve said, frowning, "She's still a little… out of it."

"No." Rufus shook his head, "I need to talk to her." He then turned to the glass wall of the elevator, looking down at Midgar.

Reeve and the Turks exchanged glances, the Turks shaking their heads. Reeve frowned and threw them a questioning look, only to have it silenced.

"What happened between Astrid and I is our business." Rufus said, glaring at their reflections in the glass, "We'll handle it on our own."

The head of Urban Development shook his head and sighed, "I don't think this problem will be solved that easily, sir."

Rufus nodded, looking back at Midgar and mumbling, "I'm well aware of that…"

When the elevator stopped, Reeve shook his head and walked out first, leading them through the warmly decorated and carpeted halls of his floor. They past several office doors before he stopped in front of one, knocking gently. "Astrid? Are you busy?"

There was a pause, "Come on in, Reeve."

He opened the door and gestured for Rufus to walk in, the president nodding and stepping across the threshold.

The office was small and sparse, consisting of only a desk facing the window that took up an entire wall and three small sofas, one along each of the remaining three walls.

Astrid was hunkered over her desk, shifting some papers around and closing the Book with one hand, pulling her hair back before she turned around.

"Is there something you wanted, Ree—" She froze upon seeing Rufus. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she spun her chair back around and hunkered over her desk, pretending to read a paper. "President Shinra… what are you doing here?"

"Don't 'President Shinra' me, Astrid." Rufus huffed, flicking his hair back and frowning, "What was with the sudden transfer?"

Astrid lowered her head further and shook it, mumbling something, "…stressful wor… environment… space…"

Rufus looked around the room, his brows rising, "Yep, you definitely have more space, don't you?"

She shook her head and place the paper aside, pulling out another, "…You're the president of Shin-Ra… you don't need to worry yourself about one employee in particular…"

Rufus shook his head and sighed.

Astrid was silent for a moment, then she spun around and stood, looking over Rufus's shoulder, "Come on in… have a seat."

The Turks and Reeve filed in, sitting in the sofas quietly, a tense silence falling over the room. Rufus sighed again and sat down beside Reeve, watching Astrid closely as she sat and stared at the space directly above his shoulder. "Astrid, we need to talk."

"About what?" She asked, clasping her hands and twisting her ankle so that it popped over and over, "I'm not in trouble, am I? I just transferred."

"No." Rufus shook his head, "No, you're not in trouble, but we do need to talk."

She nodded, "I have a lunch break in about an hour, if that's alright. I want to keep an eye on Sapphire WEAPON for as long as I can… It seems to be changing its coasting patterns, so I think it might be preparing to act again…"

Rufus nodded, "Is there anything else you've looked into?"

"…The rocket launch failed. Cloud and the others got onto the ship before it took off and they disengaged the Huge Materia. They now hold all of the pieces and are hiding them in an… undisclosed location." She said, still not looking him in the eye.

"Also," She continued, "There's some kind of barrier around the Northern Crater that the group can't get past…"

Rufus nodded, "I heard about that. Is there anything that can penetrate it?"

Astrid paused, "You'd have to ask Miss Scarlet about that. Her department would have a better idea than I would…"

At that moment, the Book screeched again and Astrid spun around, flipping it open and scanning the page. She then reached out and brushed aside several papers, picking up a phone and dialing a number, "Commander Heidegger? ...Yes. …Yes, it's preparing to attack again. …Yes, straight in from the west. …Yes, sir." She hung up, turning around again. "It's fine. Commander Heidegger will have the protection up in time, so Junon will be fine."

"Well, then, why don't you take your lunch now?" Rufus asked, standing and nodding to Reeve, "Is that acceptable?"

Reeve nodded, "Of course."

Astrid looked at her hands and bit her lip, standing and grabbing a coat off of the back of her chair. Rufus noticed that she was now wearing a regular suit, skirt and all. She really did look like just another Shin-Ra employee…

Outside of her office, Astrid bowed slightly to Reeve, "I'll be back soon, sir."

"There's no need," He assured her, smiling, "Take your time." He turned and headed back to his own office, leaving Astrid to lead Rufus and the Turks back to the elevator. She pressed the button to the cafeteria, then pressed herself against the wall and stared at a corner quietly.

The ride to the cafeteria was long and awkward. As soon as the doors opened, Astrid rushed out and sat at a table right underneath the tree, staring at the plastic surface quietly as Rufus and the Turks joined her, Rufus sitting directly across from her.

After a long period of silence, broken only when a waiter came and took their orders, Astrid burst out, "I'm sorry I left without saying anything, and—"

"No." Rufus held up a hand, silencing her, "I'm sorry." When Astrid looked up at him to protest, he jerked his still-raised hand slightly, "I jumped to conclusions and I treated your poorly… no, less than poorly. I treated you like shit, and that's far less than what you deserve. I apologize for hitting you, and I apologize for making you feel like you had to transfer to Midgar behind my back to find any peace. I was wrong."

The occupants of the table stared at Rufus in shock, and Astrid was now looking him in the eye. Rufus Shinra… apologizing… admitting he was wrong… humbling himself to a lesser… something wasn't right here.

Astrid blinked and frowned, her hand shooting out and pressing against Rufus's forehead, "Do you have a fever or something? Maybe you should go lie down." Realizing what she was doing, Astrid twitched and pulled her hand back, only to have a hand grasp her wrist and push her hand back to where it had been.

"No." Rufus smirked, holding her hand against his forehead, "I'm not sick, and that's staying there." His smirk widened at her shock, "It's good to see that you're still in there. I was concerned when you went meek and quiet on me."

"President…" Astrid muttered, trying weakly to pull her hand back, "This is terribly improper."

"And it won't stop until you put some muscle into your attempts and get me off." Rufus said, smirking, "Think, Astrid, what would you do if you weren't being pathetic?"

Astrid froze, turning her head away as the waiter came and dropped off their food. She then turned to Rufus, once again staring at the empty space over his shoulder, "I'm afraid that the 'me' you're looking for isn't there anymore, Rufus. She stepped out of line and got herself hurt… hurt in a way she wasn't prepared for. And it wasn't the assault that did it." She stood and wrapped up her sandwich, bowing slightly, "Have a nice day…" She turned quickly and ran back to the elevator, leaving Rufus staring at where she had been sitting with a blank look on his face.

"…It'll take time, President." Tseng said, trying to comfort the man in some small way, "I'm sure that she just needs some time alone."

Rufus stared at where she had been a bit longer, then picked up his fork and started eating.

* * *

Later that evening, as Astrid walked to her apartment, she was met in the hallway by someone who had come to be a frequent visitor.

"Hey, Dark Nation." She smiled and crouched, scratching the hellcat behind the ears, "How are you?"

Dark Nation purred and arched her back, then reached out and scratched at the door softly. "Meooow…"

Astrid chuckled, "Shouldn't you be sleeping in Rufus's apartment?" But she still stood and unlocked the door, letting the cat run past her and jump onto the sofa. Sighing, Astrid walked inside and threw her coat onto the back of the sofa where it promptly slid onto the floor, pulling off her heels and pantyhose and throwing them into a corner. She had just taken off her dark blue suit jacket when someone knocked on the door. She frowned, glancing at the clock. '8:30.' "Who could that be this late?"

They knocked again.

"Coming, coming…" Astrid sighed, walking over to the door and opening it. "Yes, can I help yo—" She choked and shrunk back slightly upon seeing Rufus Shinra standing in front of her door.

"Evening." He said shortly, nodding.

"Good evening." Astrid replied, blinking. What was he…?

"Dark Nation here?" He asked, rolling his head, "Looked everywhere else, but I couldn' find her."

"Yes, she's here." Astrid nodded, frowning slightly. Something wasn't right… his eyes looked a bit too dark, and he was slurring a bit… "President, have you been drinking?"

"Course no'." He replied, stepping forward and pushing past her.

Astrid watched him walk into her apartment and drop down onto her sofa, closing the door softly. 'Well, he's a neater drunk than anyone I've ever seen. The only things that give him away are is eyes and his speech.' "Stay there a moment." She walked behind the sofa and opened the small door, reaching inside and groping around until she found her PHS.

"Wha're you doin'?" Rufus asked, turning around to stare at her suspiciously.

"Calling Tseng." She answered, entering the number and hitting the 'Send' button. "I'm going to have him come and get you."

"No yoo're no'." Rufus said, standing. Displaying a remarkable amount of speed and dexterity for someone of his condition, his hand flashed out and he took the phone away, shoving it into his pocket. "I nee' to talk to you."

"Alright." Astrid nodded patiently, casually reaching inside for her other PHS, "I'm listening."

He somehow seemed to have seen her, though, because his eyes narrowed and he walked around the sofa, reaching out for her arm. "Yoo're no' calling Clou—" His feet got tangled on her suit jacket and he fell, knocking into her so they both toppled through the door and onto her bed.

Astrid froze, suddenly lying on her back with Rufus Shinra lying on top of her, his body (the entire length of it) pressing her against her own bed firmly. Had he not been drunk, she might have felt differently about it… might have. But, because he was drunk, she felt… uncomfortable.

"Rufus!" She shouted, trying vainly to push him off of her, "Get off!"

"No. No' until you listen to me." Rufus said stubbornly, grabbing her arms and pinning them to the bed. Then, a thought seemed to strike him because he smirked, "You called me 'Rufus'."

"Yeah, I guess I did." She squirmed under him uncomfortably, "Hey, could you please get off of me now?"

"Yoo're going to listen, firs'." Rufus said, sliding her further onto the bed and pinning her down with his body. "Listen, I was a real bashtard to you and I apologize."

"I know, I know!" She squeaked, trying to free her hands, "And I accept it, alright?! Now please, get off!"

"I won' believe you akshept it until you start acting like the old you!" Rufus shouted, his head dropping onto the bed beside hers, "I don' like this new you. Too conformal."

When his hips dug into hers, she snapped.

"Damn it, Rufus Shinra, if you don't get off of me in the next ten seconds I'll make sure that you'll never be able to reproduce!" Astrid hissed, her squirming suddenly stronger than before.

Rufus lifted his head and laughed, "Ha! There' the old you!"

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him, "Con-freakin'-grats, now get off!"

"Can'." Rufus said, his head dropping back onto the bed, "Head spinning."

"I can't believe this…" She braced her feet against the side of the bed and bucked him up, freeing her hand long enough to push him and roll him off of her. She sat up and took a deep breath, shaking her head at Dark Nation, who had been watching with her head resting on the back of the sofa, "This is ridiculous."

"Hmmm." Rufus rolled onto his side and watched her as she stood and straightened her shirt, "You have a small room."

"I downgraded to a regular employee apartment." She said, rolling him onto his side and pulling him into a sitting position, "Two rooms, one bed, no kitchen, but it's comfortable and livable."

"Hmmm." Rufus looked around as she walked him back into the main room, frowning that there was only a sofa and a coffee table, "Could have stayed in my apartmen'."

"As if." Astrid huffed, supporting all of his weight with one arm as she opened the front door, "I work for Shin-Ra now. It would have been a scandal waiting to happen."

"Hmmm. Astrid," He planted a hand on the doorframe, looking down at her with blank eyes, "Don' let anyone see me like this."

Astrid sighed and shook her head, but looked up and down the hall. She looked back into the apartment and called, "Dark Nation!"

The hellcat jumped off of the sofa and slipped past Astrid, sitting in front of her and staring up at her questioningly.

"Rufus, where's the elevator?" When he pointed weakly to the right, Astrid nodded to Dark Nation, "I need you to go that way and see if there's anyone down there. Come back and warn me if there is." When the cat bound off, Astrid readjusted Rufus and started walking, though slowly. When the hellcat didn't come back, Astrid assumed that there was no one there and picked up her pace, getting little to no help from the president.

When she arrived at the elevators, Dark Nation jumped up and pressed the button, dashing inside when the door opened. Astrid drug Rufus inside, leaning him against the wall and glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"Where's your cardkey?"

Rufus sighed and closed his eyes, grumbling something about his pants.

Astrid rolled her eyes and pulled his jacket back, reaching into both pockets of his pants and pulling the card out of the left one a moment later. She then took the card and slid it through the slot beneath the floor buttons.

"_Identification accepted. Welcome home, President Rufus._"

Astrid leaned against the wall as the elevator rose and stared at her boss, scowling slightly. "Rufus, what would you have done if you hadn't had stumbled to my room? What if you had gone to one of the other employee's rooms? You could have been sued for sexual harassment and possible endangerment, Rufus." When he didn't respond, her scowl grew, "Are you listening?!"

"Nope." Rufus answered immediately, his eyes still closed.

Astrid twitched, pursing her lips as the door opened to the man's apartment. Sighing, she picked him back up and drug him through the living room, kicking aside the empty bottles and wrinkling her nose in disgust at the smell. "Jeez, Rufus, how much did you drink?"

He shrugged, "I dunno… a lot?"

"Obviously." She rolled her eyes, kicking Dark Nation's door open as they past it and letting the cat in so she could feed herself. When she got to the door at the end of the hall, she kicked that one open and led Rufus through, dropping him onto the bed and arching her back, which cracked almost too easily.

Sighing, she turned back to Rufus and untied the laces of his boots, pulling them off and tossing them over her shoulder. She took off his overcoat and vest, next, throwing them to where the boots were. Leaving him in his sweater and suit pants, Astrid eased the blankets out from underneath him and pulled them over his body, rolling her eyes when she saw he was already asleep.

Wandering back into the living room, Astrid cleaned up all of the bottles and sprayed an entire can of air freshener in the room before she was satisfied enough to crash onto the sofa and fall asleep.


	46. The Days After

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(The Days After)

The next morning, Astrid woke early and made a plate of eggs, bacon, and hash browns, covering it with foil and leaving it on the counter for Rufus to find. She then ran back to her room, threw off the previous days suit and pulled on another, running out of her apartment with the Book under an arm and still buttoning her navy suit jacket with flying fingers.

Despite her worry about arriving late, she got to her office just as Reeve was going into his, and the mechanist waved her over.

"I think they're onto me." Reeve said as he shut the door.

Astrid frowned, "Who?"

"Shin-Ra… Cloud… everyone!" Reeve said, locking his door and running over to his desk, shutting the blinds. "I think Shin-Ra knows that I'm into this for more than just what they want, and I think Cloud may be catching onto the fact that I'm nervous about my position. And look out there." He motioned her over, pointing to the construction that was going on at the front of the building and across Midgar. "They're getting further and further on it every day."

Astrid frowned, "What? The new transit?"

"Is that what they're covering it up as?" Reeve asked, shaking his head, "Smart…"

"If it's not a transit," Astrid began, frowning, "What is it?"

"They're moving the Junon cannon to here." Reeve answered, sitting at his desk and shaking his head tiredly, "Scarlet wants more control of it, and Rufus agrees. They want to use it against either Meteor, the barrier around the Northern Crater, WEAPON… whatever they need to."

Astrid thought about it, her eyes widening, "What does it run on?"

Reeve laughed bitterly, shaking his head, "What do you think? Mako."

"Damn." Astrid muttered, stepping in front of the desk and pacing, "It can't go up!"

"It's too late." Reeve shook his head, "The foundations are already in, and they're woven deeply into the residential areas. The only way to assure that it would go up would have been to take out the foundations, but at this point it would mean killing millions."

"Fuck!" Astrid shouted, slamming a fist onto Reeve's desk, "It's that damned Board of Directors!" She paused and waved a hand at Reeve, "No offense."

He shrugged, "None taken. But, it's not just the Board's fault, Astrid. You can't forget Rufus."

"But Rufus wouldn't have thought of ideas on this large a scale on his own!" Astrid said, waving to the construction of the cannon saddle.

Reeve shook his head and laughed, "You aren't giving Rufus nearly enough credit. He came up with ideas worse than this," He glanced at the cannon, shaking his head, "But the Board had to shut them down because of how dangerous they were."

Astrid sighed, dropping into the chair in front of Reeve's desk. She knew well enough that Rufus had more dangerous ideas… she had been working at his desk when he had been drawing out the blueprints of some of them. 'It's just… hard to imagine he has a mind like that after spending time with him on a personal level… Like last night.'

_His feet got tangled on her suit jacket and he fell, knocking into her so they both toppled through the door and onto her bed._

"_No. No' until you listen to me." Rufus said stubbornly, grabbing her arms and pinning them to the bed. Then, a thought seemed to strike him because he smirked, "You called me 'Rufus'."_

"_Yoo're going to listen, firs'." Rufus said, sliding her further onto the bed and pinning her down with his body. "Listen, I was a real bashtard to you and I apologize."_

Astrid blinked and shook her head, frowning. 'Where did that come from?...'

"You alright, Astrid?" Reeve's voice asked suddenly, reminding her that he was there.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah." Astrid shook her head and sighed, "This just makes me sick…" 'I need to stop thinking about him.' "Come again?" She asked, not catching what Reeve had said.

Reeve quirked a brow, "You're not here right now, are you?"

"Not entirely." She answered truthfully, shaking her head and sighing again.

"Thinking about Rufus?"

"Yeaahhhh-no." She looked at Reeve and blinked, stunned, "No. No I'm not." 'Damn, I was, wasn't I?'

"I think you were." Reeve said, a sly smirk forming on his face. "Tell me, what prompted your sudden change in attitude since yesterday?"

"Got sick of being so… conformal." Astrid answered, wincing to herself. 'Damn… that's what Rufus said, isn't it?'

"Isn't that what Rufus said?" Reeve's voice asked suddenly, making Astrid snap out of her thoughts and stare at him with wide eyes.

"How did you?—"

"_Rufus! Get off!_"

"_No. No' until you listen to me. …You called me 'Rufus'._"

Astrid's eyes widened, flickering down to the mouse in Reeve's hand and to the computer that was suddenly glowing beside him. "How did you…"

"_I won' believe you akshept it until you start acting like the old you! I don' like this new you. Too conformal._"

"_Damn it, Rufus Shinra, if you don't get off of me in the next ten seconds I'll make sure that you'll never be able to reproduce!_"

"What?" Reeve asked, brows rising, "You really didn't think that no one knew about that, did you? We're watching Rufus at all times he's not in his apartment, Astrid, to assure his… safety." His smirk grew wider with each word.

"_Where's your cardkey?_"

"_Dig around in my pants. You'll find it._"

Astrid's face reddened and she buried it in her hands. 'I really didn't want to know what he said…' "Who else saw this?"

"Just me and the Turks." Reeve replied, leaning back and clicking out of the program.

"Alright then, I'll start with you." She looked at Reeve, her eyes narrowing into a glare, "You. Never. Saw. Or. Heard. Any. Of. That."

Reeve's smirk grew even wider and he crossed his arms behind his head, "Whatever you say, Astrid." He paused, then laughed a bit, "Though I'm still shocked that you let what Rufus think of you change you so quickly… and that Rufus actually got drunk over you."

"Drop it, now." Astrid hissed.

"Consider it dropped." Reeve said, waving her off, "Now, I believe you have work to be doing."

Astrid stood and walked to the door, pausing to glare back at Reeve, "Not a word, Reeve, or I swear…" She paused, her face softening, "And… if Shin-Ra does come after you, you know you can call me, right?"

Reeve smiled, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just worry about yourself."

"Still… I'm here." She smiled to him, turning and walking to her office.

"It's always in his left pocket, by the way." He shouted after her.

"REEVE!"

* * *

KnockKnockKnock

Astrid sighed, rolling her head back and staring at the ceiling, "Come in." She tilted back a bit further and watched as an upside-down Tseng walked into the room. When he had closed the door, she spun around quickly and pointed at him, glaring, "I know what you saw and I'm telling you you didn't see it!"

He stared at her for a moment, a light turning on in his head and a flash understanding lighting his eyes. A grin formed on his face and he quirked a brow, "Oh? And tell me, what didn't I see?"

"You know well enough what you 'didn't' see, and I'm warning you, if you go around telling people that you saw what you really didn't see, I'll personally rip out your intestines and force-feed them to you through a lime green crazy straw." She hissed, her eyes narrowing.

Tseng laughed and shook his head, "Don't worry, Miss Cray. President Rufus has already told me just as much and the rest of the Turks and I have already sworn ourselves to secrecy." He paused, smirking, "Though, I must admit, your punishment is admittedly more graphic than his was. Where did you learn such threats?"

Astrid scoffed, "When you deal with people like Yuffie Kisaragi on a daily basis for roughly a year, you learn to keep your secrets secret. Now," She smiled, her threatening demeanor disappearing in a flash, "Was there something you wanted?"

Tseng nodded, "I came to talk about a setting up a schedule for our language lessons if you have the free time."

"Now's good." Astrid said, turning and slamming the Book shut, "Sapphire WEAPON has a bit of a pattern for not attacking more than once in three days, so I basically have two days of downtime."

"Good." Tseng said, nodding and on the sofa across from her, "That gives us a good start time. Now, from my observations of your language skills and speech patterns, you appear fluent in Gaian. Is this a fair assumption?"

Astrid thought about it, frowning slightly, "Well, if Gaian is in direct correlation with English, as it looks like it is, then yes."

Tseng blinked, but shook it off, "Very well, so you're fluent in Gaian. Is it your first language, and if not what is? Also, do you speak any other languages?"

"Eng…" She shook her head, "Gaian is my first language, though I also know French, German, Spanish, and a bit of Japanese. I've dabbled in Russian and Chinese, and I can take a sentence and translate it into Afrikaans, though I can't speak it directly."

Tseng blinked again, frowning, "Alright, and I am assuming that those are all… legitimate languages for… wherever you come from?"

Astrid nodded, scratching the back of her head, "Yeah, they are. They're each the official languages of their own countries and they each have their own written alphabet, but I know the English alphabet better than any of the others."

"Alright, good." Tseng nodded, "Can you give me a written copy of each of the letters in the… English alphabet?"

"Sure." She turned to her desk and took out a piece of paper, taking a minute to carefully sketch out the alphabet. Flattening the finished paper on the desk, she waved Tseng over and pointed to each of the letters, naming them. "There're two sets of each, like capital 'A' and lowercase 'a'. Capital is used…"

They burned the rest of the morning and noon, and almost half of the afternoon like this, pouring over letters and different pronunciations of the letters for different words and dialects.

When four o'clock came, Astrid was exhausted.

"Are we done yet?" She moaned, shoving several pieces of paper covered with scrawling in both English and Gaian back to Tseng, "I haven't studied the English language this intently since I made the mistake of signing myself up for a summer class called 'The Origin of Word'."

Tseng nodded, gathering the papers and his own notes, "I have enough to be able to come up with a concrete lesson plan for you. Expect me back tomorrow at the same time."

Astrid snapped her fingers and pointed to him, nodding her head, "Okay. See you later, Tseng."

He smirked and walked to the door, turning and bowing slightly to her, "Miss Cray", before he walked out, letting the door slam softly behind him.

Completely sure he was gone, Astrid slammed her head onto her desk and groaned. "This is going to be a long employment…"

* * *

For the next week, Astrid divided her time between reading the Book and her lessons with Tseng, both quickly becoming the two things she contributed to Shin-Ra most in.

With her advanced knowledge of the habits of the WEAPONS and her ever improving Gaian penmanship, she was able to write detailed guides on how to handle each of the WEAPONS, though she made sure to call Cloud in with her information, first.

When she had a full volume complete on the Sapphire WEAPON, she photocopied it and sent the copy to Reeve with instructions to use it whenever he needed to help out AVALANCHE. She then sent the handwritten copy to Heidegger by mail; assuring that AVALANCHE would be ready ahead of time and that Shin-Ra would also be prepared by doing so.

Also, during the course of the week, she made it her prime duty to avoid Rufus at all costs, which turned out to be rather hard to do considering several things; they both worked in the same building, they both worked in the upper levels, they both had to attend many of the same meetings, they both worked with Reeve and the Turks, and Reeve and the Turks kept trying to push them together.

The worst threat by far was Elena, who, being both a woman and a romantic, was much more adept to putting Astrid and Rufus into awkward situations. After one incident in particular where Elena nearly successfully trapped Rufus and Astrid alone on an elevator, Astrid made sure to leave the woman with a very specific piece of blackmail.

"If you keep trying," Astrid hissed into Elena's ear when the woman had sat down for lunch, "I'll make sure that Tseng knows exactly why you keep clinging to him."

After that, Elena backed off… though, amusingly enough, Rufus was trapped on the elevator for three hours before mechanics were able to safely take him out.

Once again, this all took place in the period of a week, so by the time the weekend came around Astrid was exhausted.

"Why don't you take the weekend off?" Reeve suggested when she walked out of her office, loaded with papers, "I'm sure Junon with be able to handle Sapphire WEAPON for two days. I'll even tell Tseng that you're indisposed."

"Thanks, I'd like that." Astrid said, smiling tiredly at him as they stepped onto the elevator, "All of this reading and writing is giving me some of the worst tension headaches I've had since high school."

"I can imagine." Reeve said, smirking apologetically at her papers, "I don't even think Rufus does that much paperwork. Maybe we should order a computer for you."

Astrid blinked, looking up at him with wide eyes, "That would be nice… Why hasn't anyone ever suggested that before?"

The head of Urban Development shrugged, "Not sure. I would have thought Rufus would have sent one down for you when he heard you were working in my department." He paused, glancing at her slyly, "Why don't you make an appointment with him to talk about it?"

"Hmm?" Astrid mumbled, not really paying attention, "Yeah, yeah, sure. That'd be fine."

Reeve's smirk grew into a conniving smile, "I'll set it up then. How does this evening at about seven sound?"

"Just fine." Astrid answered, completely absorbed in looking through her papers.

"Perfect." Reeve nodded, pushing her towards the elevator door as it came to a stop at her floor, "I'll make the arrangements and have someone sent down at six to make sure you're ready."

She nodded, muttering, "Thanks" and walking out of the elevator, completely oblivious to the world around her. It was only when she heard the door shutting again that she realized what arrangements had just been made.

"REEVE!!" She spun around, but the door was already almost closed. The last thing she saw was the fleeting grin of a goateed chin. She moaned and smacked her forehead, dropping all of her papers in the process. Screaming, she dropped to her knees.

"GAIA, WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!"


	47. The Start of Something

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(The Start of Something)

"I can't do this, I can't do this, I Cannot Do This!" Astrid shouted, running around her small apartment in a panic. "Why me?!"

She stopped suddenly, glancing at the clock.

"Alright, so it's only four thirty… that gives me an hour and thirty minutes to get myself together before someone comes down to make sure I'm together, then another hour to mentally prep myself for actually talking to Rufus. This should be easy…" She shook her head, "But why does it feel so damned hard?!"

* * *

"A meeting, is it?" Tseng asked, a small smirk forming on his face. "And you actually got her to agree to this?"

Reeve nodded, taking a sip of tea, "She was far too into her paperwork to realize what she was agreeing to until a full minute after she stepped out of the elevator. Now, all you have to do is talk Rufus into it." He looked at each of the Turks.

Reno scoffed and shook his head, "Easier said then done. It's impossible to trick him into doing anything. Trust me, I've tried."

"Weeeeee could always get him drunk." Elena suggested hesitantly, shrugging when the men turned to stare at her, "What? Remember what happened last time?"

"Rufus acted like a fool, Astrid was incredibly uncomfortable, and they've been avoiding each other for almost a week and a half now." Rude summarized, shaking his head, "That is not a good idea."

"Then what do we do?" Elena asked, exasperated.

They were silent for a moment, thinking and rejecting hundreds of ideas to themselves silently.

Then, Reno looked up and blinked, "A challenge…"

The others looked at him and Reeve asked, "What?"

Reno shook his head, "Think about it, how did you get Astrid, Reeve?"

Reeve blinked, "I caught her unawares…"

"Exactly." Reno nodded, "You used one of her weaknesses against her, her inattentiveness when she's reading something, and you got her to agree with it. We just gotta do the same thing to the President and use one of his weaknesses against him, and what is the President's greatest weakness?"

Tseng blinked, "His inability to resist a challenge…"

"Not just a challenge," Reno corrected, standing and pacing, "A challenge that has been declared impossible by others. A challenge to attain what others say he can't. Rufus hates adversity!"

"I see." Reeve said, shaking his head. "It's a good idea, but how do we pitch it?"

Reno smirked, "Like this…"

* * *

"Hold it!" Astrid stopped in the middle of the room, looking at herself in the mirror. "Why am I getting all hyped up about this? We're just meeting to talk about a computer."

"Yeah, that's what the pretense is." Mirror Astrid (hereafter referred to as MA) said, "But you know that you want more than just a 'talk' about 'computers'."

Astrid frowned, placing her hands on her hips, "No I do not! This is Rufus Shinra we're talking about! This man can make small children cry by just looking at them."

MA smirked, "With those gorgeous blue eyes of his, he can. He can also make the ladies swoon by snapping his fingers."

"Pfft." Astrid scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Maybe, but it'll take a lot more than a look and finger snapping to get anything out of me."

"Of course." MA replied, smirking, "He had to grind you."

Astrid blushed, her eye twitching, "Who asked you?!" She threw a blanket at the mirror, covering it and silencing MA.

* * *

"She said what?" Rufus fumed, the paper in his hand crumpling slightly as he looked up at the Turks. "Run that by me again."

Reno shrugged, casually walking back over to his usual post in Rufus's room, "We were having lunch with Astrid and she was talking about the… incident that happened a week ago. She said that the only reason you got drunk and crawled to her apartment was so you could try to get her in bed."

"Reno," Tseng snapped, glaring at his subordinate, "That is not the kind of thing President Rufus needs to be hearing." He then looked at the fuming Rufus and bowed slightly, "Pardon us, sir. We were just discussing the unlikelihood that you and Astrid would ever actually date on our way up here."

"Oh?" Rufus asked, quirking a brow, "And why would it be an unlikely event?"

"Haven't you noticed, President?" Elena asked innocently, walking over to her post, "Astrid, unlike many other women, is completely immune to you."

Rufus shook his head, looking back to Reno, "And what did she say after the 'bed' comment?"

Reno shrugged, "She said that it was a pathetic attempt and that you'd never actually be able to succeed with your amateurish moves. Quoting her, though." He said quickly when Rufus's eye twitching, "And I might be paraphrasing a bit."

"Paraphrasing or not," Elena shrugged, "It was the gist of what was said."

"Is that so?" Rufus breathed.

"Yep." Reno said, nodding his head, "We tried to convince her of otherwise, of course, but she was so adamant that she made a bet with us. She's going to come up here at about seven to talk about you 'ordering her a computer', and she said that even if you tried to make a move, which she was convinced you would after last weeks events, that she would be able to deny you at every turn."

"…Is that so?"

* * *

Astrid looked down at the three suits spread out before her on the ground, frowning and tapping her foot. "Black, blue, or dark red?"

"Black is too generic, blue takes second place in generic, and that red is too close to Vincent's red." MA said, sitting on the mirror floor and looking out at the suits. "What about that green one? You know, the one with the nice glass faux ruby for a broach?"

"That was green?" Astrid asked, looking at MA and frowning, "I thought it was a washed-out blue?"

MA shook her head, "Nope. It's green."

Astrid took the green suit out of the closet and looked it over. It had a long, flowing skirt and the broach was surrounded by white ruffles. She looked at it closer, blinking, "Wow, that is green."

MA nodded, "And it would accent your eyes nicely."

Astrid nodded in agreement, then frowned, "Why do I care what I look like? We're going to be talking about computers!" She hung the suit over the mirror, turning back to the three suits and kicking the red one aside. "Alright, black or blue?"

* * *

"How are the preparations coming along?" Rufus asked, looking up from his paperwork to Tseng, who nodded.

"Very well, sir." Tseng smiled, "She won't know what hit her."

"Good." Rufus smirked, looking back down at his papers, "Good."

* * *

"Black it is, then." Astrid threw the black suit onto the sofa and was picking up the other suits when someone knocked on the door. Her eyes flew to the clock, "Six already?" She walked over to the door and opened it, blinking, "Elena?"

"Hello!" Elena smiled brightly, brushing past Astrid and walking over to the suits. She picked up the black one from the sofa, her nose wrinkling, "Black? Are you kidding?" She threw the suit over her shoulder and took two steps to the closet, opening it and digging around.

"Elena?" Astrid asked hesitantly, walking up behind the woman and frowning, "What are you doing?"

"Helping you." Elena answered, still digging around, "Didn't Reeve tell you he was sending someone over?" She spun around, holding out the red suit, "Better then the black one, I guess…" Then, something caught her eye and she smiled widely, "Oooh!"

Astrid watched as Elena ran over to the mirror and picked up the green suit, looking it up and down.

"Perfect!" The Turk threw the suit into Astrid's hands and pushed her into her bedroom, shutting the door and shouting, "Get dressed, now!"

* * *

Rufus looked at the spread, nodding and smirking, "Good. Good."

* * *

Elena smiled as Astrid walked out of her bedroom, suit on and buttoned. Elena's smile widened and she took out a small black bag, "Makeup!"

Astrid's eyes widened, "Makeup?!"

* * *

Rufus smirked as the trays were brought out and set on the table, opening one up and breathing in the steam that billowed out deeply. "Good."

* * *

Astrid frowned in confusion, "Why are we bothering with all of thi—"

"Stop talking and pucker your lips!" Elena ordered, grabbing Astrid's jaw and twisting a tube until a stick of red peeked out.

* * *

Rufus looked at his watch, his smirk growing even wider. "It's almost time."

* * *

Elena squirted the bottle one last time so that a plume of mist rained down. "You're done!"

* * *

Astrid stepped into the office slowly, looking around and squinting her eyes. 'Why is it so dark?'

"Hello, Astrid."

She blinked and turned towards the door to the roof, blinking, "Rufus?"

He was leaning against the frame of the door casually, looking down at Midgar, "Reeve said you wanted to… talk to me… about something?"

"Uh… yeah." She blinked and looked at his back, "Are you wearing a tuxedo?"

"Hmm?" He turned around and looked at his arms, shrugging, "Yeah. Something was wrong with the drycleaners and my entire closet was stripped of all of my usual clothes. All I had left were my… more formal outfits."

Astrid quirked a brow, "I can tell. Your tux actually has tails."

Rufus shrugged again, "Tradition, I suppose." He blinked, quirking a brow, "Well, are you coming in, or are you going to stand there all night?"

"Err… right." Astrid nodded, walking briskly across the room and sitting in the chair in front of the desk, "I needed to talk to you about a—" She was cut off when Rufus laughed.

"What's with the formalities?" Rufus asked, smirking and holding out a hand, "Come, join me on the roof."

Astrid blinked, "Alriiiiight…" Standing, she walked over to Rufus, slowly taking his hand. She looked at him suspiciously as he led her out onto the roof, "What's up with you? You're acting all… cordial.""

"Nothing." Rufus said, shaking his head, "Do I need a reason to be nice to a friend?"

"And since when did you consider me a friend?" Astrid asked, blinking and looking at what she saw lay out before her, "…What's with the dinner table… and the dinner?"

"Well, it is rather late, and you haven't been to the cafeteria for dinner yet," Rufus said, pulling out a chair and sitting her down, "So, I thought you could dine with me tonight, since you were already here and I was just preparing to sit down for dinner."

Just then, a Cait Sith dressed up in a tuxedo, both the cat and the moogle bowing, "Good evening, good sir and madam. What would you like for dinner tonight?"

"Steak." Astrid said, picking up the napkin from beside her plate and slamming it back onto the table, "Rare." She then stood, grabbing the cat by the ear and grinning at it eerily, "May I talk to you?" She smiled at Rufus, dragging the cat off, "Excuse me for a moment."

Inside of Rufus's office, Astrid narrowed her eyes at the waiting Turks and Cait Sith go, glaring at all of them, "What the hell is going on here? I thought," She turned and glared down at the cat, "That this was supposed to be a discussion about computers?"

"Well, somewhere between the then and the now, it became a date." Elena said brightly, grabbing Astrid by the elbow and dragging her back over to the door, "Now get out there and eat!"

Astrid turned and glared at Elena, "Do I need to tell you-know-who about—"

"Do I need to tell you-know-who about what you were singing to yourself while you worked the other day?" Elena asked, smiling triumphantly when Astrid gapped at her. "Payback's a bitch." Elena said, pushing Astrid back to the door, "Now get out there and have a good time!"

Astrid stormed back to the table and sat down, glaring at her plate.

"…We've both been tricked, haven't we?" Rufus asked after a moment.

She nodded glumly, "That we have."

"…Shall we call it a night, then?"

Astrid blinked and looked up into the blank face of Rufus Shinra. She stared at him for a moment, then said, "Only if you want to."

Rufus blinked, "Question is, do you want to?"

They were both silent for a moment, then Astrid smirked and shook her head, "No."

Rufus smirked back, "Well, let's enjoy the night, shall we?"

* * *

Astrid and Rufus stood at the edge of the building, each holding a glass of wine and laughing.

"Your father honestly said that?" She asked, shaking her head.

Rufus nodded, taking another gulp of wine, "He did. And, after that, he had no choice but to marry my mother."

Astrid laughed quietly, looking at her hands and swirling the red wine around in its glass. "…I wish I could have met her. She sounds nice."

Rufus took a moment to answer, "She would have liked you."

They were silent, standing side by side and staring out over Midgar.

"It's a shame…" Astrid said after a moment, "You can't see the stars from here."

"Too much mako emissions in the air." Rufus said, shaking his head, "I don't think the citizens of Midgar have seen a starry sky in almost fifty years."

Astrid turned to face him, her breath hitching in her chest when they met face to face. For a moment, neither of them did a thing.

"Rufus… what are we doing?"

He shrugged, "I don't know… you tell me."

She shuddered, "I think… we're about to do something that could change things permanently between us…"

Rufus quirked a brow, "Would you rather we didn't?"

She stared at him, searching his eyes, "The way I see it… you have two options. You can walk away and we'll stay the way we are… or you can do something and we'll take the plunge."

"Either way, we loose something, don't we?" Rufus asked, smirking.

Astrid smirked back, "Life's full of choices."

Rufus nodded, "Let's hope this is the right one." And he closed the space between them, capturing her lips in his.

* * *

"Oh, yeah!" Reno laughed, pointing to Rude, "You so owe me twenty gil!"


	48. Meteorfall

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Meteorfall)

"We'll call it the Sister Ray." Scarlet declared triumphantly, looking to Rufus for approval.

Rufus nodded, smirking, "Very well." He turned and nodded, "Prepare to fire the Sister Ray."

"RUFUS!"

Everyone in the room turned and watched as an angry Astrid burst into the room, glaring at the president. The Turks ran in after her.

"Sorry, sir." Tseng panted, shaking his head, "We couldn't hold her back."

"Astrid." Rufus faced her and glared down at her, "Go back to your room."

"Like hell I will." She hissed, glaring up at him, "What do you think you're doing, firing that thing? Do you have any idea the repercussions it could have?!"

Rufus turned away and sighed, "Again with the Planet!" He smirked at her, "You're lucky I'm not the jealous type."

Astrid smirked back, then wiped it off and shook her head, "This isn't about the Planet now, Rufus! This is about Midgar! What will happen to the city if the cannon misfires?! Or if the soil beneath the city can't handle the shockwave?! You know the ground beneath us has been drowned of life, so who knows how feeble it is!"

Rufus sighed and shook his head, "Which is why I don't want you here when we fire it. Your room is dead center of the building, so you shouldn't feel anything at all."

"You also wouldn't be able to hear me cursing you to hell and back." Astrid grumbled, crossing her arms.

Rufus sighed loudly, smiling at her genuinely, "Astrid… Honey…"

Astrid froze. Rufus Shinra did not smile genuinely and he did not call her 'honey'. In the last three weeks they had been dating, he'd hardly called her for dinner anymore. Not that she minded, he was a busy person, but he certainly didn't look upon her with open fondness.

She smiled nervously, "Yes, Rufus?"

He took her into his arms and kissed her, shocking her into immobility and silence. He then looked down at her and smirked. "Good night."

A sharp pain on her temple, and everything went black.

* * *

Sighing, Rufus picked her up and held her out to Rude. "Take her back to her room, if you would."

Rude nodded, taking Astrid's unconscious body and backing away.

Rufus watched her for a moment, then turned to Tseng, "Even if you have to tie her to her bed, keep her in her room. Is that clear?"

Tseng nodded and bowed, "Yes, sir." Tseng then turned and nodded to the Turks, following them out of the room.

Rufus stared after them for a moment, then said to Scarlet, "Prepare the cannon."

* * *

"Untie me, now!" Astrid shouted, wriggling against the restraints on her wrists and ankles.

"Actually, I kinda like you this way." Reno said, facing her and smirking, "Nice and out of the way."

"And get off of my sofa!" She continued, glaring at the redhead, "You're stinking it up with you're 'Reno-ness'!"

Tseng sighed and shook his head, "Please, quit struggling, Miss Cray." He paused, then looked at her wryly, "You know, if you hadn't gotten involved with the President, you wouldn't be in this situation."

Astrid rolled her eyes and scoffed, "And who encouraged me to 'get involved' with the President?"

Tseng sighed and shook his head again.

At that moment, the building shook.

"The hell was that?!" Reno shouted, jumping to his feet.

Then, a PHS rang.

"It's Cloud and the others!" Astrid shouted, struggling again against the bonds, "Someone answer it!"

Rude picked up the PHS, opening it and holding it to his ear, "Hello? …Yes. …Yes. …" He glanced at Astrid and nodded, "Yes. … Alright." He hung up, nodding to Tseng, "We have to get her out of here. Diamond WEAPON is attacking."

The Book screamed and Astrid looked at it with wide eyes, struggling even harder, "Someone untie me!"

After a moment, Elena walked over to her and cut her bindings, the Turks watching as she stumbled off of the bed and into the living room, pulling the Book out of the closet and opening it.

**SSSSHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

_**Astrid… Rufus is in danger… He needs help…**_

Astrid stared at the Book with wide eyes, then looked at the Turks and shouted, "You heard it! Go help him!"

Tseng turned and was about to walk out when his PHS rang. He flipped it open quickly, "Sir? …Yes. …Yes, I know, we're on our way— …But… sir…" He nodded, "I understand. Goodbye, Rufus." Tseng turned, nodding to Reno, Rude and Elena with a blank face, "We're… to take Miss Cray to Cosmo Canyon."

"Like hell you will." Astrid growled, taking a step towards Tseng and glaring at him, "Get your ass up there and help him. Get him out of this building!"

Tseng looked at her and shook his head, "We're under direct orders. You are to be taken to Cosmo Canyon." He looked behind her and nodded, "Rude."

The next thing she knew, Astrid was hoisted into the air by her waist and staring at the ground. She screamed and kicked, punching Rude's chest, "PUT ME DOWN! GET UP THERE AND SAVE RUFUS, DAMN IT! RUDE, PUT ME DOWN!!"

The Turks ignored her, though, and walked down the hall stonily, heading for the elevators. They were almost to them when Astrid stopped struggling.

"Wait! Reeve! We have to get Reeve!"

"Mr. Tuesti has been branded a traitor." Tseng said, pressing the call button on the elevator, "As such, he is the last of our worries."

"I know that!" Astrid shouted, punching Rude again, "But he's controlling Cait Sith! There are more than one Cait Sith, so he might be able to do something! And Dark Nation is still here! And… and…" She started shaking, her head falling against Rude's chest. She clung to his suit jacket, "Don't… make me loose someone else. Not after Marcus… don't make me."

There was a moment of silence and Astrid suddenly found herself on her feet, Tseng staring at her intently. He nodded to the elevator as it opened, "You have twenty minutes. Make it fast."

She nodded, smiling widely and running onto the elevator. Punching the floor button and the 'close doors' button hard, she nodded to the Turks one final time before the doors closed. As the elevator began its slow ascent, she turned and looked down at Midgar.

It was night, and all around the city the red lights of the mako reactors pulsed in the inky blackness, which was slowly becoming less and less black as the eerie green glow of the mako grew stronger and stronger. Above the city, the sky was a murky brown.

"_I don't think the citizens of Midgar have seen a starry sky in almost fifty years._"

"Rufus…" She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the glass, "You can't die… you need to see Midgar's stars…"

The elevator stopped and she spun around, running out and through the lower offices of the top floor. Sprinting up the steps, Astrid burst through the doors and ran blindly at Rufus, throwing herself and him before her could react. She slammed into his back, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Rufus!" She screamed into his jacket, clinging to him, "Don't you ever fucking do that again!"

"Astrid?!" He spun around, grabbing her shoulders and staring down at her, "What in the hell are you doing here?! You should be halfway out of the city limits by now!"

She shook her head, lowering her face so he couldn't see her cry, "I… I couldn't! Not without…"

She heard him sigh, "You idiot…" Then she was pulled up against his chest and his mouth was pressed against hers, his arms wrapping around her back and holding her tightly.

Astrid closed her eyes tightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him hungrily. 'Don't make me let go…'

Against her will, though, he pushed her away a moment later and looked down at her seriously, "Astrid, you have to get out of here. Go and find Tseng and tell him to take you to Cosmo Canyon."

"No." She shook her head, glaring up at him, "Not without you. You don't have a reason to stay here anymore. The Sister Ray won't work!"

"It will." He said, looking at her determinedly, "And when it does and all of this is over, I'll come for you. I swear. Now, go."

He seemed so determined that, looking into his eyes, she couldn't help but believe him. 'Maybe he's right… I never saw the end of the game, so maybe he does win… maybe he does survive…' "Alright." She nodded, "I'll go." She backed away slowly, not wanting to take her eyes off of him.

Rufus rolled his eyes and smirked, crossing his arms, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

She smirked back, "I shouldn't have to, because you're coming to get me." She stuck her tongue out at him, "And you'd better make it quick. You never know when I'll get bored and walk off."

"Eh, you'll wait." Rufus said, waving a hand at her, "You're too crazy about me to do otherwise."

"That's what you'd like to think."

Rufus's smirk widened, "I didn't make it in this business by thinking; I know."

When she ran into the door, she stopped and stared at him a moment longer. "…If you die… I'll hunt you down and kick your ass."

"Don't worry." Rufus said, smirk returning to its normal cockiness, "I don't plan on dying yet; I still have a lot to do in this world."

Astrid nodded, turning and opening the door. After another pause, she ran out, not looking back as the door slammed shut.

* * *

"You want us to what?" Reno asked, crossing his arms.

"I want you to stay here," Astrid said, looking at each of the Turks, "And wait for Rufus. If things get too bad, drag his sorry carcass out."

"What about you?" Tseng asked, frowning, "How will you get to Cosmo Canyon?"

"Cait Sith copy number three." She replied, nodding over to the helicopter. She waved to the Cait Sith waiting inside, smiling when it waved back, "They may not have opposable thumbs, but they're reliable and sturdy. Besides, they're Reeve's creations. He'll get me to Cosmo Canyon, without a doubt."

Elena looked at the cat behind the joystick hesitantly, "Are you sure about this?"

Astrid nodded determinedly, "I want Rufus to survive this."

"And he will." Reno said, smiling confidently, "With us watching his back, Rufus Shinra can survive anything."

Astrid smiled, "Good." She walked forward and gave Reno a hug, "But you all had better survive, too."

Reno looked down at her in shock, then smirked and hugged her back, "You bet."

Astrid moved on to Elena, then Rude, and finally Tseng, who looked at her unsurely. She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Loosen up, old man." And she pulled him into a hug.

Tseng froze, then slowly pat her on the back.

"Good enough." Astrid sighed, smirking at the Turks, "Don't forget, you're the Turks. Death should fear you, not claim you."

The Turks smiled and nodded, "Right."

Smiling at them one last time, Astrid turned and ran to the helicopter, jumping in and shouting to Cait Sith, "Let's go!"

But the cat shook his head, "Wait!" He pointed out the window, Astrid looking and blinking as Dark Nation bound over to them.

Astrid crawled into the back and opened the door, waving to the hellcat as the helicopter blades picked up speed.

Dark Nation yowled, ducking under the air pressure and jumping into the bay, pinning Astrid to the floor.

The door slammed shut and the helicopter rose into the air.

They had just crossed the city limit when the attack from Diamond WEAPON struck the Shin-Ra tower. The screaming of the Book could hardly be heard above Astrid's own.

* * *

When Cloud and the others arrived at Cosmo Canyon, there was already a crowd gathered around the helicopter. The party pushed their way through the gathering, ignoring the short-circuited Cait Sith in the driver's seat and opening the main bay. Tifa screamed as a black flash jumped out of the dark, pinning Cloud to the ground and growling at him viciously.

"Dark, no."

The cat heeded immediately, jumping off of Cloud and looking back into the darkness of the helicopter with her ears drooping and soft whines coming from the back of her throat.

Yuffie stepped over Cloud and edged closer to the helicopter, "Astrid?" She then jumped back when something moved in the darkness.

Astrid pulled herself out of the helicopter, stumbling on her own broken heel and ripping her skirt up to her hip. When she fell to the ground, Dark Nation jumped to her side and licked her face, yowling lowly. Astrid grabbed the cat around the neck and took her heels off, using the cat to pull herself to her feet.

She looked at the party, defeated, "Rufus… the Turks… none of them…" She shook her head and fell to her knees.

"Let's get her inside." Bugenhagen said, suddenly appearing alongside the party, "She needs to rest."

Vincent walked forward, wrapping an arm around her waist and picking her up. Dark Nation growled at him, but when Astrid waved her off, the cat fell silent and walked alongside them, her head low to the ground as they walked into Bugenhagen's home.

Astrid was leaned against a wall and given an earthenware cup of tea, which she drank absentmindedly. She didn't hear anyone talking to her, nor felt anyone touching her, trying to get her to respond. When Dark Nation lay down beside her, she stroked the hellcat's pelt numbly, taking another sip of tea.


	49. Find a Reason

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Find a Reason)

"Rufus Shinra is dead."

"That's what it looks like, huh?"

The party looked up from their meals, staring at Astrid in shock. It had been the first thing she had responded to three days, the pessimistic remark from Cloud. And, despite her obvious sorrow about his death upon her arrival, she didn't seem the least bit upset now.

"Astrid, are you alright?" Yuffie asked, frowning, "You should probably eat som—"

"I'm not hungry. Thanks, Yuffie." Astrid stood, looking at the party dully, "You wouldn't happen to have my things, would you?"

Cloud stared at her pensively as he chewed, then swallowed and said, "We got your backpack and a few other things from the helicopter. They're in the next room over."

Astrid nodded, "Thanks." She walked out of the room, walking into the only other room in the hall. She was about to close the door when Dark Nation slipped in, staring up at her. Astrid felt a smile tug at her lips, "A bit lost without him, aren't you?"

Dark Nation blinked slowly, "Meow…"

She chuckled, "Stupid cat…" Astrid knelt and rubbed the hellcat's head, "You shouldn't depend on people too much… they'll only disappoint you in the end." Standing and turning, she shut the door and unbuttoned her clothes, letting them fall to the ground in a warm heap.

Seeing her backpack in one corner and a shower in the other, Astrid stepped into the shower and turned it on as hot as it could go, leaving the door open so Dark Nation could walk in and out as she wished.

After she had thoroughly burned herself, Astrid walked over to her bag and pulled out her underwear, sweater, and pants, not even bothering to dry herself before she pulled it all on. She walked out of the bathroom a moment later, sopping wet, but clean.

Back with the others, she knelt before Bugenhagen and took out the Book, handing it to him, "I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

The sage nodded, taking the Book, "I understand. But, it will always be here should you ever choose to take it back."

"Thanks," She said, standing and shaking her head, "But that thing has brought me nothing but misery. I don't think I'll be taking it back any time soon." That said, Astrid turned to the party and smiled weakly, "Is it too late for me to join you for the end?"

Cloud stood and held something out to her. When she took it, he shook his head, "I already said you could rejoin at any time, and I meant it. Welcome back."

She smiled wistfully, unsheathing her sword and staring at her blurred reflection in the blade, "It's… good to be back."

"So…" Yuffie said after a moment, coughing, "When are we leaving?"

"Now." Cloud answered, nodding to the group, "Get yourselves ready. We'll be leaving in the Highwind soon."

As they filed out of the room, Astrid sighed and sat at the table, stroking Dark Nation absentmindedly.

"Astrid…" She looked up at the hesitant face of Tifa, blinking. Tifa bit her lip, sitting beside her and holding out a box, "I found this… with your stuff. I think… it was supposed to be for you."

Astrid paused, then reached out and took the box. There was a piece of paper attached to the top, so she took the paper and opened it.

_Astrid,_

_This is for your protection, so if you come back to me injured, I'll know you didn't use it. There will be severe consequences if you're hurt. Wear it._

_Rufus Shinra_

Tifa stood and silently walked away, leaving Astrid to herself.

Astrid read and reread the letter several times, shaking her head and setting it aside. 'He really thought it was going to work… He honestly thought he was going survive.' Resting her head in her hand, she opened the box with her free hand, blinking at what was inside.

Picking up the silver band inside, she dropped the box and flipped the band over and over in her hands. 'An armor…'

"Oooo!" Yuffie suddenly appeared in front of Astrid, kneeling down and looking at the band, "An Ultima Bangle! Those are really rare! Where did you get it?!"

"Yuffie!" Tifa hissed, running into the room and grabbing the ninja by the arm, "Leave her alone!"

"Oh." Yuffie mumbled, stepping back and shuffling her feet sheepishly, "That's from Rufus, isn't it?"

"Yuffie!"

"It is." Astrid said, smiling slightly, "The greedy bastard actually thought of someone else's safety for a change… Or, no," She shook her head and laughed, "He was probably thinking about himself… thinking about how much his life would suck for a while if I died… just for a while, though." Sighing, she stood and slipped the bangle onto her hand, letting it dangle loosely at her wrist, "I guess I'll humor his memory…"

"Are you ready?" The three females looked to the door, Cloud looking at them and frowning, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Astrid stood, slinging her backpack onto her back and shoving the letter and box into her pocket, "Nothing at all." She pulled on her boots and laced them, slung her sword around her waist and secured it, and buckled the belt of her gun over that. Packed and ready, Astrid nodded to Cloud, "Let's go." She then walked past him and out the door, Dark Nation on her heels.

Outside, Barret looked at the hellcat and frowned, "We takin' that thing with us?"

Astrid nodded, "We are."

Barret scowled, "It's Shinra's pet… how do you know we can trust it?"

"I'm all she has left, Barret." Astrid said, taking a step closer to the hellcat, "And she's not one to betray her loyalties. Right, Dark?" She looked down and smiled.

Dark Nation looked back up and blinked, "Meow…"

Astrid turned to Red XIII, "What do you think, Red?"

He looked at Dark Nation and tilted his head, sniffing the air slightly. "Other than the stench of Shinra, I don't smell any deception from her." He paused, sniffing the air again. "Did you use Rufus's hair products on her?" Red asked, throwing Astrid a wry look.

"Yeah." Astrid smirked, laughing lowly, "It ticks…" She sighed and shook her head, "Ticked Rufus off…" After a pause, she walked towards the town exit quietly, Dark Nation running after her.

Tifa shook her head, "Poor Astrid… she must have really liked him."

"Almost makes me wish Rufus wasn't dead." Barret muttered, rubbing the back of his head, "She's so depressed she's hardly showing any emotion about the whole ordeal."

Cid shook his head, "No point in feelin' sorry for her, though. Can't imagine she'd like it. Let's just get going."

On the Highwind, Astrid avoided contact from her companions by hiding out on the deck, sitting with her back to the rear wall to avoid the wind. Her legs were stretched out and Dark Nation lay on top of them, dozing lightly and languidly purring as Astrid scratched her behind the ears.

The ship jostled slightly in a gust of air and something inside of her jacket pocket poked Astrid in the gut, making her reach in and dig it out. In her hand, she held the PHS Rufus had given her.

Before she was aware of what she was doing, Astrid had skimmed through the contacts list and highlighted Rufus's name, finger hovering over the send button. She then skimmed to Tseng, then Elena, then Rude, then Reno. Finally, she stopped on Reeve, hitting the send button and putting the phone to her ear.

"_We're sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected. Please hang up and try again at a later time._"

"It won't work." She looked up at Cait Sith, who was shaking his head, "All of the Shin-Ra numbers are more than likely dead. No one will answer."

"He's not dead, Reeve." She said suddenly, looking back out to the clouds, "Rufus Shinra doesn't die easily… he's still alive, somewhere."

The cat frowned, directing the waddling moogle over to her side and sitting down, "You really liked him, didn't you?"

Astrid laughed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, "I don't know… things went so fast during those last few months, none of it seemed real. It was so… unfocused and indistinct. So many things happened at once, I can't help but wonder if we rushed it." She paused, smirking, "Or maybe I was expecting too much from a fling."

"Is that all it was? A fling?" Reeve's voice came out of the microphone, slow and solemn.

She shrugged, "As if I would have meant anything more then that to Rufus Shinra… He was too… is too…" She paused, opening her eyes and looking at Cait Sith with a smirk, "Too 'Rufus' for anything with me to have been considered a serious relationship."

"But did you care about him? I'm not asking about Rufus." Reeve said, the cat shaking his head.

Astrid stared at him silently for a moment, then sighed and leaned her head back, closing her eyes, "I tried to stop him from mattering, but I failed. I did care for him… I do care for him."

"Then that's all that matters." Reeve said, a smile in his voice. "Time, space, thought… they all really don't matter as long as it meant something to you."

She smiled, "Thanks, Reeve."

The cat nodded, then spoke again in its squeaky cat voice, "Come on! Let's go to the bridge!" They walked down together, Cait Sith filling her in, "You missed out on a lot while Cait Sith copy number three flew you to Cosmo Canyon."

"Oh?" Astrid asked, letting him walk through the door first, "Like what?"

Cait Sith shrugged, "Well, Hojo died."

Astrid sighed and rolled her eyes, "Thank mako." …'Actually, I kinda might miss the creep… then again, probably not.' "Go on."

"Well, we're also dropping everyone off at their homes to decide if we really want to fight or not."

Astrid blinked, looking at the cat in shock as they walked past the meeting room, "Really? Is everyone questioning their reasons for fighting?"

Cait Sith shook his head, "No. Cloud just wants to make sure everyone knows what they might die for… and if it's really worth it."

"Smart idea." Astrid nodded, looking up as they entered the bridge, "Great idea, Cloud."

Said spiky-head turned away from the controls, blinking at her, "Huh?"

Astrid shrugged and waved her hand, "The whole 'Discover what you're really fighting for' thing. Great leadership."

Cloud blinked, "Thanks…" Stopping the Highwind, he turned to Barret and nodded, "Alright, we're close to Kalm. Go and see Marlene."

Barret nodded, running to the exit.

Cloud turned back to the controls and waited for a few moments before steering the Highwind back into the air, "Next stop, Wutai."

"Yeah!" Yuffie shouted, jumping up and down, "I get to go home!" She stopped, then dropped to her knees and cried, "NNNNNOOOOO!! I have to deal with my crazy family!!"

Astrid quirked a brow, "And… what are you?"

The ninja glared at Astrid and stuck her tongue out, "You're mean, big sister."

"Big sister?" Everyone in the room repeated, looking at Yuffie in confusion. Astrid just looked at her in horror.

"Yeah!" Yuffie jumped to her feet and ran over to Astrid, throwing herself onto her arm, "Astrid is the big sister I never had! She even got herself thrown off of a chocobo to have a reason to come and find me!"

Astrid looked down at her, eye twitching, "How did you—?!"

Yuffie looked up at her and grinned evilly, "I was watching you as soon as you all came out of the cave, and I saw what you did."

"Astrid," She winced and looked to Cloud, smiling nervously when he glared at her, "You did what?"

"Nothing!" Astrid shouted, looking out the window, "Oh, what do you know?! It's Wutai! Well, off you go, Yuffie!" She turned and shoved the ninja out the door, then ran and jumped the railing onto the lowered platform Vincent was standing on, crossing her arms and staring off into nothing as if nothing had happened.

After a moment, the Highwind picked up again and Cloud said, "Next, Rocket Town."

"Drop me off there, as well." Vincent said suddenly, "I can go where I need to from there."

"Same here." Astrid said, looking up and blinking, "Hey, Vincent, you mentioned something earlier about using a materia I had to cross an ocean? What did you mean?"

Vincent looked at her and blinked. After a brief pause, he started talking, "What you do is…"

* * *

Cid, Vincent and Astrid watched as the Highwind coasted away. When it had disappeared over the mountains, Astrid turned to them and nodded, "Okay, so if we go back, we meet them at Nibelheim, right?"

"Yep." Cid replied, scratching his chin, "What, you actually thinking of going back? Don't you have better things to do then end your life early?"

Astrid though about it, then shrugged, "Not really." Turning, she started walking towards the ocean, waving over her shoulder, "Later, guys."

She hadn't taken ten steps when a flutter of red walked up beside her, "Do you mind if I join you for a bit? I'm heading in the same direction."

Astrid looked at Vincent and smiled, "Not at all." She looked ahead again, smiling fondly when Dark Nation ran past her and started chasing some gopher-beasts. "So, where are you headed?" She glanced at him, remembering how private he was, "If you don't mind my asking."

Vincent shook his head, staring ahead stonily, "To the grave of a woman I once loved… Lucrecia."

"Lucrecia…" Astrid repeated slowly, smiling, "That's a beautiful name… She must have been wonderful."

He nodded slightly, "She was…" He glanced at her, "What about you?"

"Me?" She looked at him, shrugging, "I'm going to Marcus's grave. I haven't been there in a while, and there really is no place in Gaia I can rightfully call home, anyway. Besides…" She looked ahead, "I really don't have anyone, anyway…" She paused, then glanced at him, "You remember when I told you, back in the Forgotten Capital, that your eyes struck me as those of someone you could easily talk to? Like a father, but closer?"

Vincent nodded.

"I just remembered I was comparing you to someone." He glanced at her and she went on, "See, when I was about five, this new guy moved in next door. He was in his teens and an only child, but he was really cool. The first time I met him was when I was trying to sneak into his garage." She smirked, shaking her head, "After that, I followed him around like a lost puppy, clinging to him, seeing him whenever I got the chance, calling him at night to tell me bedtime stories… it got to the point where I was calling him 'big brother'. He was the one I could tell anything and everything to."

Vincent stared at her.

Astrid's face fell slightly, "Then… one day, when I was seven… something happened. …He moved away." She fell silent.

They walked on a bit longer, Vincent eventually glancing at her and asking, "What happened next?"

She looked at him, quirking a brow, "What? He moved away, that's pretty much it. Oh, I cried for a good three hours and didn't talk to anyone for two days, but that was about it. I was seven at the time, so I got over it easily. What were you expecting, a tragic romance?"

Vincent blinked, then shook his head and laughed.

"Yes!" Astrid cheered, clenching a fist, "I got Vincent Valentine to laugh! I win at life!"

He stopped suddenly, looking to the mountains. When Astrid stopped and looked back at him, he glanced at her and nodded, "This is were you and I part ways."

Astrid smiled, "Alright. Later, big brother!"

Vincent stared at her, then shook his head and walked off.

"Quit trying to play cool! I know you're smirking!" Astrid called after him, laughing. She then turned to face Dark Nation, smiling, "What do you say, Dark? Ready to go?"

The hellcat looked at her, dropping the dead beast in her mouth and yowling, "Meow!"

Astrid nodded, "Then let's go." Tightening her backpack straps, she headed north.


	50. Phantasmagoria Illustrate

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Phantasmagoria Illustrate)

Astrid slipped her backpack off and dropped it onto the ground, unbuckling her gun and sword and setting them down beside it. She then walked over to the grave and sat down in front of it, staring at the tombstone.

Marcus Cray

Born unknown, died in the winter

Powerful warrior, beloved brother

'Return to Planet and Rest in Eternal Light'

She smiled sadly, pulling her knees up to her chest, "Rufus was right… it is fitting, isn't it?" She sighed and glanced at Dark Nation, "It's hard to believe… that he's been gone for almost half a year, now."

The cat tilted her head, then walked over to the tombstone and sniffed it. She shook her head and stepped back, sneezing.

Astrid watched this passively, her eyes closing slightly. Then, a thought struck her and she turned to her backpack, reaching inside and pulling out the Book.

"'Phantasmagoria Illustrate'." She muttered, running a hand over the cover, "I wonder… how do you do it?"

Suddenly, the Book jumped in her hands and the cover flew open, pages fluttering and turning themselves, stopping on a double blank.

Astrid watched as words formed.

**The Book is yours, Astrid. Use it as you please.**

She blinked, "Can I 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate' with it?"

**If that is what you wish, then you shall learn. Choose your subject, and be prepared for what is to follow.**

Astrid nodded, "Alright. I want to talk to Marcus, in the Lifestream."

**Very well. Lay the Book down and fall into its pages. It will guide you from there.**

Astrid lay the book flat on the ground, ready to jump. She paused, though, glancing at Dark Nation. "Dark… I know you can understand me, and I'd like to ask a favor of you. If anything… weird happens that doesn't smell right to you, try to pull me out, alright?"

The hellcat blinked, then walked over to Astrid and rubbed her great, black-blue head against hers, a single strum of purrs coming from the back of her throat.

"Thanks, Dark." Astrid turned to the book and took a deep breath, leaning forward until she lost balance and fell against the pages. She saw a bright flash of light and felt herself leave her body, a numbing feeling bursting from her forehead and spreading throughout her body like a flame.

The pages of the Book fluttered, the Book shutting. Dark Nation blinked and stared. Astrid was gone.

**And here she wandered the border of Life and Death, searching for her brother in the Lifestream.**

_She stood, once again, in the void of white, the unseen white water lapping at her ankles. Unsure of what to do, she stumbled forward, then ran. There was so much immeasurable space around her, she wondered if she was actually getting anywhere… or if she was going so fast she had already past what she was looking for up._

_Then, a colored smudge appeared in the distance, just a little to her left. She turned towards it and ran._

_Some time or no time at all later, she stood in front of Marcus, panting. Realizing, though, that she wasn't tired in the least and had no reason to pant, she stopped and straightened, smiling to her brother._

"_Marcus."_

_He smiled back, a genuine smile she hadn't seen on him in some time. He looked older than he had been back home, before the journey had begun, but he didn't look like either people she was accustomed to. He was still tall as Jenova had made him and still had the longish hair as Jenova had made him, but he looked healthier. Pinker. And his hair was actually the right shade of blonde, if a bit darker than she remembered._

"_This is what I would have looked like, had what had happened not happened." He looked at himself, holding out his arms. He was wearing the same outfit he had died in, only it was white and clean. "This is what I would have looked like… at twelve."_

"_Twelve." She whispered, shaking her head, "We've been here so long…"_

"_Going onto our second year." Marcus said, nodding, "One year and almost seven months now. That's… a long time for a journey."_

_She nodded, smiling wistfully, "Do you suppose… Mom and Dad still remember us?"_

_Marcus nodded. "They probably do, though they also probably try not to. Trying to move on by now, I guess. Realistically, there's no way that you'd be in any condition to go back now. Too much has changed. Too many open wounds have healed over too well, and they probably wouldn't believe it was you even if you went back."_

"_I didn't plan on it, anyway." She said, shaking her head, "Not without you. It… wouldn't be right."_

_He stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "I see you learned to 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate'."_

_She nodded, looking around, "I've done this before… though I had no idea that __this__ was it."_

"_It is." Marcus said, nodding, "And it is a very powerful ability."_

_Astrid frowned a bit, "What exactly does it entail?"_

_Marcus smirked, "Defining 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate' is like… defining how the Planet is conscious. You don't really know how it works, it just does." He paused, shrugging, "I suppose if you wanted something to compare it to, it's like lucid dreaming, only you're not the only person in the dream… and you can't control your surroundings… and you can actually feel sensations…" He smirked, "Well, I guess it's not really like a dream at all… but it is lucid."_

_Astrid blinked, "So… it's like reality?"_

"_No." Marcus answered immediately, shaking his head, "This isn't like reality at all. The rules of reality don't apply to this place. 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate' is exactly as it seems… yet far more than you can imagine."_

_She nodded, falling silent and listening to the stillness in the white._

"_Marcus…"_

_He blinked, "Hmm?"_

_Astrid looked at him, face solemn, "What am I fighting for? Is it revenge? Is that a good enough reason to fight?"_

_Marcus took a deep breath and held it for a moment, closing his eyes. Letting it all out and eyes still closed, he said, "Fighting for revenge, no matter what anyone says, is always part of a person's reason for fighting." He opened his eyes and looked at her, "The level of selflessness that is required to fight for anything other than revenge is something that no human being, or most other sentient beings for that matter, can possibly attain; it's impossible. Even if a person is not intimately connected to the fight, they still feel the need for revenge from the people that they are fighting alongside. The revenge factor is… unavoidable._

"_Because of this, no one has the right to judge whether or not fighting for revenge is a good enough reason to fight. But, revenge doesn't have to be the only reason. You can have your own, personal reason for fighting. What it is, though, is something only you can define."_

_Astrid lowered her head and looked at the white beneath her feet, "Would you fight?"_

"_I would." His voice answered, "But don't use me as a reason, Astrid. To have any hope of winning, you have to find your own reason."_

_She looked up quickly, "Marcus, I—" But he was already leaving, sinking slowly into the white._

"_Sorry, sis." He said, smiling, "I have to go now."_

_Astrid nodded, watching him disappear inch by inch, "I love you, Marcus."_

_He nodded, still smiling, "I love you, too." And he was gone, swallowed by the white._

_Astrid stared at the spot for a moment longer, then looked up and started walking. "Well, now that I'm done here, how do I get out?" She shrugged, "I guess something will hit me eventually."_

_She walked and walked, getting nowhere but never having a real destination to begin with. The white spread all around her, swallowing yet defining her. The water around her ankles splashed, providing the only sound there was to hear, but never getting her wet above her knees and never echoing, as if muffled as soon as it was parted and sounded._

_She stopped, staring down at the water. After a moment, she sat down and lay on her back, frowning when the water didn't even reach her eyes._

"_How does this work?"_

"_It's not something you can will." Astrid shot up and looked, eyes widening when she met Aerith face to face. Aerith smiled and shrugged, "It's something that… just happens."_

"_Aerith!" Astrid jumped to her feet, pulling the older woman into a hug when she, too, stood, "I've missed you so much!"_

"_There's no need, you know." Aerith said, smiling and hugging her back, "I'm with the Planet now, so I'm always around you."_

_Astrid laughed and shook her head, "Well, it's kinda hard to hug an entire planet, you know."_

_Aerith shook her head and laughed, "I suppose it is." Aerith then smiled widely, shrugging her shoulders and grabbing Astrid's hands, "So, what do you think of Gaia? Isn't it beautiful?"_

"_Yeah, I suppose." Astrid answered, shrugging, "A lot more interesting than Earth, I'll admit, but it does have its own… interesting problems."_

"_Oh, of course." Aerith nodded, "But when Sephiroth is defeated, then things will change. Everything will start to get even better, and then the Planet will be even more beautiful."_

"_So, you think we can beat him?" Astrid asked._

_Aerith nodded enthusiastically, smiling, "Of course!" She then grew solemn, "For the sake of Gaia, her people, and Sephiroth himself, he must be stopped."_

"_Sephiroth himself…" Astrid sighed and shook her head, "If he hadn't done such terrible, over the top things, I'd feel sorry for him."_

"_Yes," Aerith said slowly, shaking her head, "He does have a hard past to accept, but that does not excuse what he is trying to do. You, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and all the others… you must fight to save Gaia."_

"_But is that all?"_

_Aerith blinked, "What?"_

_Astrid shook her head and sighed, "Cloud told us… to take a break and think about why we want to fight. If we decide it's not good enough, then we don't have to go back. We can spend these last few days living out our lives normally until we die of old age… or Meteor claims us. Saving Gaia is a great reason to act, but…is that really why we're fighting?" She paused, frowning, "Is that really why I'm fighting?"_

_Aerith nodded, "I understand… Fighting without a reason is just pointless, isn't it?" She looked at Astrid and smiled, "Well, then, I guess I'll leave you to discover your reason for fighting. Good luck, Astrid." She began to sink into the white._

_Astrid nodded and smiled, "Bye, Aerith."_

_Aerith smiled one last time before she was swallowed by the white._

_Alone again, Astrid looked ahead and started walking._

A reason to fight…

_She sighed, shaking her head._

What is my reason?

_She looked ahead, blinking._

Is it just to save Gaia?

_There was a colored smudge off in the distance._

No.

_She walked to it._

Then what is it?

_It took a while, but eventually the smudge began to grow. She was getting closer._

Was it her friends?

_She could tell what the smudge was now._

Was it the adventure?

_The Book._

Was it… Rufus?

_She walked up to the Book and flipped to the back, skimming through the pages._

No… none of those reasons seemed right, either.

_The Book… was blank. Even the Prologue was gone._

Then what?

_The Book shuddered in her hands, flipping back to the center pages._

**What is your reason for fighting?**

I… don't know.

**Think. What have you learned? What have you found?**

I learned… that in order to save someone, sometimes you have to let them go…

**Too generic. Think harder.**

I learned to let others fight for what they believe in, even if it means loosing them.

**Better. Now, what have you found?**

…Identity.

**Elaborate.**

I shouldn't do what others want me to do, I should do what I want.

**Good. And why is that?**

Because, in the end, the only one I have to truly live with is myself.

**And what does that mean for you?**

…Freedom.

**Yes. Of both mind and spirit. You are free. You have found purpose. You are—**

Home.

**And now, what will you do?**

I will fight… to save my home.

**Is that the only reason you will fight?**

No… I will fight… so that what Marcus did was not in vain. So his sacrifice will mean something.

**Good. Now, it is time. You have stopped running and faced your calling, now it is time to go and fight for it. Because that is your right… and your duty.**

I will… Thank you.

**Ha. Don't thank me. Thank yourself. Because, remember, you are the author… the writer… the storyteller of this tale. And now, it is time for the first chapter to close, and for the rest to begin.**

Wait… so… you're me? But how is that possible?

**This is a story, Astrid. Anything is possible. Go now, go on to Nibelheim, then to Northern Crater, and then to the End.**

And from there?

**Only time will tell.**


	51. All Together, Now

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(All Together, Now)

Astrid opened her eyes and stood abruptly, smiling widely.

"I've found my reason." She looked to Dark Nation and smiled, nodding, "Let's head back."

Dark Nation jumped up and threw her head back, letting out a triumphant roar.

They both turned and started running, Astrid grabbing her things and throwing them on as she ran. They sped through the Forgotten Capital, disturbing a few birds. Bone Village flew by, only a couple of excavators noticing them. As the ocean approached, Astrid pulled out her 'Shiva' materia and held it up.

"Let's go, Shiva!"

There was a flurry of snow, and then the ice daemon appeared, running alongside them. Shiva threw her hands forward and sent out a gust of ice and cold air, a thin strip of the ocean freezing. The strip grew longer and longer the closer they got to it, and snow fell down onto it and froze quickly, making the surface more grasping. Astrid's shoes and Dark Nation's paws crunched as they ran onto the ice, their soles gripping as if on snowy ground.

As they ran, Shiva stayed with them and extended the bridge of ice far ahead, stretching from the Icicle Area and curving around the northern tip of the middle continent, stopping at the tip of the Rocket Launch Area.

Shiva conjured a strong wind at their backs, speeding them up tremendously so that Gaia sped past in a blur.

When they set foot on the land of the Rocket Launch Area, Shiva and the ice bridge dissipated, leaving Astrid so exhausted she collapsed on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

When Astrid woke again, it was nighttime, and Dark Nation was curled up at her side. Pushing herself up, Astrid sighed and shook her head, looking down at Dark Nation and frowning, "How long have I been out."

The hellcat looked at her pensively, then reached out with her paw and slapped it softly on the ground two times.

"Two hours?"

Dark Nation shook her head and hit the ground again, two times like before.

"Two days?!"

The hellcat nodded.

Astrid sighed and shook her head, "Great. Two days lost after ten minutes of magic." She paused, frowning, "Well… I guess it was some pretty powerful magic, right?"

Dark Nation stood and arched her back, opening her mouth widely and yawning.

Turning inland, Astrid crossed her arms and sighed, "Well, I was out for two days, it took me two days to get to the grave, and Cloud said we had five days to think about our choice." She blinked, eyes widening, "THAT MEANS I ONLY HAVE ONE DAY LEFT!!" She looked down at Dark Nation and cried, "Let's go!"

And they were running again, Astrid tiring after a few minutes and slowing down. At her side, Dark Nation looked up at her and growled.

"Sorry, Dark." She panted, trying to speed up, "Still tired…"

The hellcat blinked, then slowed down a bit and fell behind her. There was a jolt, and Astrid found herself clinging to Dark Nation's back and the cat running faster and faster.

"Dark! Are you sure about this?!" Sure, Dark Nation was a powerful cat, but she only stood up to Astrid's hip…

In answer, Dark Nation bent her head lower and sped up, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground.

"Alright." Astrid smirked, leaning in closer to the blue/black pelt and tightening her legs around the cat's waist slightly, "Let's go!"

Gaia once again flew past, and in no time at all they had past Rocket Town and were arcing around the mountain range and flying to the Nibelheim reactor. Dark Nation dove into the caves and weaved her way through the mazes, jerking sharply when Astrid shuddered violently against her back.

"Sorry, Dark." Astrid wheezed, flinching, "Too close to the mako reactor… Could we speed up a bit?"

Dark Nation growled and sped up, taking the corners even tighter and running dangerously close to the ledges. When they emerged from the caves and Dark Nation jumped towards the bridges, her body jerked and she fell to the ground, both Astrid and hellcat sliding a ways before they rolled to a stop.

Wincing, Astrid pushed herself to her knees and crawled over to the hellcat, looking over her carefully.

Dark Nation's sides rose and fell laboriously, foam dripping from her mouth and sweat running down her sides. Astrid panicked when she saw that the cat's paws had been run raw and bloody.

"Shit…" She whispered, reaching out and stroking the cat's head, "Dark Nation… I'm so sorry."

The hellcat looked at her and yowled softly, and Astrid could have sworn that she saw the corners of the cat's mouth pull back slightly, though if it was the process of yowling or a smile, she couldn't tell.

"Let's get you to Nibelheim." Astrid stood and picked up the hellcat, cradling her against her stomach. She walked as quickly as she dared, not even allowing the daunting gorges below the bridges stop her. When Nibelheim was in sight, she walked to the Shinra mansion rather than head directly into the town.

Walking into one of the downstairs bedrooms, she set Dark Nation down in a chair and went to the bed, pulling the comforter off, digging through the sheets until she found several thick winter blankets. She took these and set them in front of the room's empty fireplace, mussing them into a nest-like fashion.

After carefully laying Dark Nation into the nest, she ran over to the bureau and tore out the drawers, banging them against the ground until they shattered to pieces. Taking those pieces, she threw them into the fireplace, then ran around the room looking for more wood. When the fireplace was filled, she took out her 'Fire' materia and lit the wood on fire, watching it until it became a roaring blaze.

She turned to Dark Nation, who was unconscious. Astrid sat down, her back to the fire, and opened her backpack, taking out a 'Restore' materia and a first-aid kit. She cleaned and bound the hellcat's feet, rubbed her down with the corner of one of the blankets and used 'Cure2' on her.

When Dark Nation opened her eyes and looked at her, Astrid smiled, "I have to go now, Dark. You're in the Shinra mansion and no one really comes here anymore, so you should be fine. I'd get you some food, but you'd probably prefer to hunt for yourself. Your feet should be fine, but go easy on them for a while and avoid the villagers. I'll be back for you when all of this is over; I promise."

Dark Nation reached up and nuzzled Astrid's face, sandpapery tongue scraping her cheek.

Astrid smiled and hugged the hellcat tightly around the neck, "Wish us luck." She then stood and grabbed her backpack, running out of the room and house without looking back.

She passed through Nibelheim without a second though, stopping at the town limits and looking at the Highwind waiting on the horizon. She felt something swell inside of her chest, bulging so big she ran with her head down towards the airship without any reserve. She climbed the waiting rope ladder and dashed to the bridge, bursting in as Cait Sith was talking.

"… work really hard!"

"ASTRID!"

She looked up and grinned when everyone turned to face her. "Hey, all."

"You're really coming?" Tifa asked, smiling widely.

Astrid smirked and shrugged, "Sure, I got nothing to loose…" She paused, blinking, "Other than my life…" She crossed her arms, "My pride…" She started to frown, "My huge bank account back in Shin-Ra…" Her frown became more pronounced, "The winnings I still haven't collected back at Gold Saucer…" Her frown reached an all-time low, "And the ridiculously large deposit I placed on this really shiny but chintzy speed boat back in Costa del Sol…" She looked back up and smiled, shrugging, "But other than that, I'm set!"

The group looked at her, deadpanned.

Then, Cait Sith burst into laughter and smacked her leg, "Good to have you with us, Astrid!"

After a moment, Barret looked around and shrugged, "I guess that's everyone."

Red XIII shook his head, "No. Yuffie's missing."

"She ain't gonna show up." Barret said gruffly, shaking his head, "'Least this time she didn't steal our materia. Guess we gotta be thankful for that."

As if on cue, Yuffie dropped from the ceiling and turned to glare at Barret, "How could you say that?!" She jumped back and forth on her feet, punching out at him, "I came all the way here after being as seasick as a dog! And I didn't go through all that just to let you guys have the best parts for yourselves! Besides," She looked at them all and grinned, "You need me. You're nothing without me."

Astrid rolled her eyes and sighed, "How… charitable of you."

Yuffie turned to Astrid and smiled, "Big sister!" The ninja ran over to her, clinging to her waist, "I'm happy you came!"

Cloud smirked and crossed his arms, "Welcome back, Yuffie."

Not letting go of Astrid's waist, Yuffie turned to look their leader up and down skeptically, "Gee, Cloud… so nice of you to say that." She frowned, "You sick?" She then jumped away from Astrid, flying back to the ceiling, "Well, whatever. I'm gonna be in my reserved seat in the hall… waiting… upp! …Urk!" She dropped down and landed on her back, rolling onto her hands and knees and running out of the room.

Cloud shook his head and looked at the ground, laughing lightly, "Thanks everyone."

Barret scoffed loudly and shook his head, smirking, "We didn't come back for your spiky-headed ass! We came back for Marlene. Guess it's jes' my… whatcha call, feelings or somethin'. I, uh, I ain't got no words now…"

Astrid smirked, closing her eyes and letting her chin fall to her chest as the others started talking about Aerith.

"Let's go." She said when they were done, looking up, "Let's go to the Northern Crater and finish this, once and for all."

Cloud looked at her and nodded, "This is our last battle. Our target is the Northern Crater. Our enemy is… Sephiroth!" He faced forward, pointing to the horizon, "So let's move out!"

Cid flipped the switches, the Highwind jerking violently as the exterior changed. There was the whirring of engines and the bridge got a bit warmer, heat-induced mirages swirling outside of the glass windows.

"Here it comes!" Cid shouted, bracing himself and increasing his already tight grip on the controls, "Everyone, brace yourselves!"

Astrid knelt and bowed her head, pressing the palms of her hands on the ground to hold herself as steady as she could.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a wash of vertigo as the Highwind rocketed forward.

She clamped her eyes and ears shut, trying to ignore Cid's shouts about loosing control. Then, as soon as it had begun, it was over. The group was silently gathering and walking up to the bridge, watching numbly as the rope ladder was lowered into the Northern Crater.

Astrid stepped up to the edge and looked down, mind going blank as she gazed into the void below.

"It'll all be over soon…" She muttered, her grip tightening on the railing, "When this is over, I'll go back to Nibelheim and get Dark Nation. We'll go somewhere… somewhere fun. …This is almost over…"

"Let's go." She heard Cloud say.

They all stepped up to the ladder and began to descend, Astrid somehow getting pushed into the third place in line. She took a deep breath, then closed her eyes and let it out, crawling over the railing and descending the ladder into the crater below.

After sliding down a ways and wandering around silently, they stopped at the entrance of a huge cave that split into two tunnels.

Cloud looked at each of the tunnels, shaking his head, "Looks like the path forks right here."

"No." Astrid drawled, rolling her eyes, "Whatever gave you that idea?" When everyone turned to glare at her, she smirked and shrugged, "Sorry. Been hanging around Rufus too long."

"Alright." Cloud said, drawing attention back to him, "We'll all split into two groups. I'll take Tifa, Barret, Cid, and Red XIII."

"Guess that leaves me, Vincent, Yuffie, and Cait Sith." Astrid said, walking forward. When her four party members joined her, she looked at Cloud, "You want first dibs on a particular path? Or is everything fair game?"

"We'll take the right." Cloud said, nodding to Astrid and her group, "Don't you guys die on me. We all have to get through to Sephiroth."

Barret stretched his arms over his head and roared, "Well… Looks like this is our last big job!"

Vincent nodded, "It's all over now. With this..."

Yuffie's head drooped and she sighed, "Oh man... 'Materia Hunter Yuffie' sounds like the last chapter of 'Materia Forever'."

Red XIII shook his head, headdress rustling, "All life on this planet… indeed the very life of this planet is in our hands..."

Cait Sith sniffed and wiped his eyes, "I'm so happy to have met you all, really!"

Tifa rubbed her arms nervously, "It's almost over…"

Cid scratched the side of his face, "This is what it all comes down to, eh?"

Astrid sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, "After all of this… I'll never want to go anywhere _ever_ again…"

Cloud nodded, "This will be the end of it!"

Taking a few last nervous glances at each other, the two groups went their separate ways and walked into the tunnels.

Despite the eerie appearances of the tunnels, they were largely bare and almost void of monsters.

"This is pathetic." Astrid mumbled, slicing through another weak bat monster with her sword, "What was all the hype about if this is going to be it?"

"Jumping to conclusions is unwise." Vincent said, absentmindedly shooting a rat beast that had jumped at him from behind a rock.

Cait Sith smashed a large vole beast, frowning, "Still… she's kinda right. Where're all of the big monsters?"

"Yeah!" Yuffie shouted, walking in the back and letting the other handle the beasts, "How are we supposed to get any materia if all we have to face as opponents are these weaklings?!"

Vincent sighed and shook his head, refusing to argue further.

They walked through a series of tunnels and mazes that tricked and led them in circles, eventually relying on some bright markers Cait Sith's moogle had stored in its stomach to mark where they had already been.

When they reached a new area they had never seen before, Astrid stiffened and looked around with wide eyes. "We're here…"


	52. The Final Battle Cometh

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(The Final Battle Cometh)

When Cloud and his group finally arrived, Astrid was looking around nervously, clearly on edge. Her eyes kept jumping back to the crater in the middle of the cave, lips pursing at the wisps of gasses that wafted up from the greenish light below.

"What's wrong?" Barret asked her, walking up to her.

Astrid just shook her head and frowned, looking at her fingernails distractedly and muttering under her breath.

"Good luck getting anything else out of her." Yuffie said, rolling her eyes and lolling against a rock. "As soon as we got in here, she planted herself there and refused to move or speak."

"Astrid." Red XIII said, walking over to her and nudging her leg, "If it's something about Sephiroth or the battle, you have to tell us. We need to know."

Astrid sighed and shook her head, looking at the crater, "I'm not terribly sure I'll be able to go with you beyond this point. Crap loads of mako down there… and Lifestream… and materia…" She frowned, "Then again, I suppose they're all the same basic thing, right?" She then moaned, grabbing her head, "Can't stand it… I already feel a headache coming on, and we haven't been here five minutes." She looked back to the crater, "And those mako deposits can't be closer than five hundred feet… If it's like this here, it's going to be a real pain in the ass down there."

"You'll come with us, though…" Yuffie said hesitantly, frowning at Astrid, "Right, big sister?"

Astrid looked at Yuffie, then sighed, "As far as I can, I will. I'll go until I collapse." She then nodded to Cloud, "Alright, I'm done."

Cloud nodded, stepping over to the crater and turning to the group, "Alright, everyone. Let's mosey!"

They stared at him and Cid groaned loudly, "Damn! Again?! Stop sayin' it like a wimp! Can't you say 'Move out' or somethin'?!"

Cloud scratched the back of his head sheepishly, then thrust his fist forward and said, "Move out!"

Cid nodded appreciatively, "Much better."

At that moment, there was a cacophony of roars from above, making the entire group look up.

"Wow." Astrid blinked, "So that's where all of the monsters went…"

Red XIII shook his head slowly, "Look at the number…"

Cid held his lance and swore, "&#!! They're coming in force!"

"Yep." Astrid nodded, holding her sword out, "We're screwed."

Barret turned to Cloud and nodded, "Go on ahead!"

Cloud shook his head, "No! I'm fighting here, too!"

"And if we all die here, who's to fight Sephiroth?!" Astrid shouted, taking out her gun and holding it ready as the masses of beasts swarmed into sight in the tunnels, crawling and slashing at each other to get to where the group was. "Just take two people with you and get down there!"

"Barret! Tifa! Let's go!" Cloud and his chosen two went, leaving the rest to face the swarms of beasts as the poured into the room.

"Alright, let's kick some beast !!" Cid shouted, jumping forward and running several beats through with his lance.

Astrid rolled her eyes and shot at a bat beast that had dove for the man's head, "Reckless, reckless, reckless…" Seeing an entire group of monsters headed her way, Astrid held out her sword and tapped into her ice power, "Shiva!"

The ice daemon was soon joined by other summons, obliterating groups of monsters at a time only to have them replaced seconds later.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Red XIII shouted after several moments, "We've held them off long enough, let's go!"

Silently agreeing, they all turned and dove into the crater, Astrid hesitating as the smell of mako washed over her.

'_Run, you idiot!_'

She blinked, "Rufus?..." The beasts roared behind her and she shook her head, running down the steps into the green light below.

As they ran down the steps, everything began to rumble and shift. Entire blocks of rock fell down around them, falling only a few feet before they shot upwards into the shaft above.

In front, they were gradually getting closer and closer to Cloud, Tifa and Barret, who were fighting what appeared to be…

"Jenova!" Red XIII shouted, almost jumping to a stop before Yuffie nearly tripped over him.

"No time to stop, kitty! Keep going!"

And the ninja was right. The steps they had used to run down were breaking off one by one, shooting up with the rest of the rubble. They were going in descending order at a steady pace, getting closer and closer to the party.

JenovaSYNTHESIS had just fallen when the rest of the group caught up with the three battle weary warriors, and their platform was the next in line to disintegrate. As they were rejoined, the stone crumbled and they fell downward, swallowed by the green light.

* * *

Pain… pain… pain… Pain… Pain!… PAIN!

She was awash in pain, the likes of which she had never felt before. She couldn't feel the different parts of her body, couldn't tell if she was breathing, screaming, looking around, moving, anything. All there was was the pain.

It seemed to intensify with each passing moment, and she knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.

'Sorry Marcus… Rufus… looks like I've reached the end…'

"No!"

She felt someone grab her, and knew immediately it was Marcus.

"Hold on!"

'C… c-can't… hurts too much…' She got lightheaded. 'I feel so… sleepy.'

"Don't you dare! Just hold on a minute longer, I'm going to block it!"

She waited… waited… painwaited… waited… pain… pain… pppaaaiiinnn… wai—

And suddenly the pain was gone.

"Good. Now, keep going. You're almost there." And he was gone.

Astrid opened her eyes and sat up, looking around. She blinked. They were there. The center of Gaia. Then, a picture of… someone… flashed through her head. …It was him…

"…Sephiroth!" She heard Cloud shout, turning quickly to see.

Sephiroth was there, in the center of the planet, staring at them.

Astrid was about to scream when she was jerked into the air, alongside everyone else. She tried to struggle, but couldn't move. "CLOUD! DO SOMETHING!"

From somewhere behind her, she heard Red XIII howl, "My front legs... my hind legs... my tail's about to tear off!"

"This is definitely not good... He's way outta our league..." Cait Sith mumbled from beside her, his mechanical voice unable to block out Reeve's despair.

Then, they were spinning.

'Bastard…' Astrid thought, closing her eyes to keep herself from getting sick, 'He's toying with us…' "Stop screwing around and take us seriously!" She shouted, eyes still clenched shut.

They stopped spinning, making Astrid think he had heard her. Then, they started spinning again.

She squinted her eyes shut, moaning.

'Stop whining and get ready.'

Astrid opened her eyes, frowning, "Rufus?…"

'If you're going to save the Planet, do it right and focus.'

"Jerk." She muttered, closing her eyes, "Bugging me from the afterlife… that's really annoying…"

'Just straighten up and snap to it!'

"Fine!" She shouted, opening her eyes and flipping her body upright, grabbing her sword from suspended space at her side and holding it tightly, "Let's get this over with!"

Around her, the rest of the party righted themselves and readied their weapons, all of them prepared to fight.

But… Sephiroth was picky about who he fought.

Cloud shot towards him, followed by Tifa. Then, finally… Astrid shot forward, an invisible hand grabbing her chest and dragging her towards the core. The rest of the party was lost from sight.

* * *

Still flying, Astrid crashed into Tifa and Cloud, groaning, "Why me?"

"**Because you and I have a debt to settle.**"

She pushed away from Tifa and Cloud, holding her sword and gun tighter, "What did you say?"

Sephiroth grinned at her, "**You are to pay for your brother's weakness. You will be my retribution.**"

"Like hell I will." Astrid hissed, shooting forward and dropping her gun, holding her sword with both hands and thrusting forward, "Hyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Sephiroth moved slightly, dodging most of the blow. Part of her sword, though, nicked his side, a thin trail of blood pouring out.

Astrid stopped and righted herself, smirking, "Good to see you still have some human in you… I'd have hated to have not seen anything flow out of your miserable corpse."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed at her and he lunged out, only to be stopped at the last minute when Cloud's sword sliced into his shoulder.

And the battle commenced.

Because of her rash action, Astrid was stuck alone on the other side of Sephiroth, both battling and healing by herself. The upside to this, though, was she got a good shot at his back. 'Which is perfect, because if I had to fight him head-on, I'd be dead.'

Partway through the battle, Sephiroth began to wig out. Then, hunching over, tendrils started sprouting from his back and he transformed, bigger and scarier than ever.

"Oh, come _**on**_!" Astrid screamed, summoning Shiva.

Sephiroth just laughed and lunged out at her, a blow which Shiva blocked at the cost of her own health. Shiva fell and disappeared, her materia going cold.

'Damn.' Astrid shoved the materia into her pocket, digging out another one. She stared at it, not recognizing or remembering it. 'Where the hell did I get this?'

Pure power surged through her veins as she stared at it, a booming voice entering her mind. "_I am Bahamut ZERO. Wield me against the foe of the Planet, and I shall guide your blade true!_"

Astrid blinked, shrugged, "Good enough for me." She then shoved the materia into the open slot on her sword, smirking when the metal flashed a metallic black. "Oh, yeah. Astrid makes a comeback."

She then lunged forward, her blade digging into Sephiroth's back up to the hilt.

Sephiroth roared and slammed his hand backwards, knocking her off and throwing her away.

That was when Astrid found herself swordless.

'Well, I'm dead.'

"Astrid, here!" She turned to Tifa throwing her something long and silver.

Astrid watched as it spun, as if in slow motion, closer and closer to her face. When it seemed like she was waiting too long, she realize it wasn't slow motion. The silver object was caught in Sephiroth's zero gravity and wasn't moving forward at all; just spinning.

Rolling her eyes, Astrid shot forward and grabbed the object, staring at her gun. 'Forgot about that…' She then flicked open the moonclip, looking at the backs of the shells. 'One… two… three… four… Great, only four.' She sighed, snapping the clip shut, "Guess I'd better do this carefully."

"Astrid! Look out!"

She looked up, screaming at the random tendril that was flying at her face. Panicking, she pointed the gun and shot, missing the tendril completely. The tendril swerved at the last moment, stabbing into a hunk of rock.

Astrid blinked, deadpanning, "Okay… three bullets…. and this time, it will be done carefully." She looked up and gasped, this time successfully dodging the tendril that came at her.

She sat in the back and watched Cloud and Tifa attack, throwing healing spells and looking for a weak point.

'There! At the ribcage beneath the left arm! Shoot!'

"Who asked you?" She growled, raising the gun nevertheless and shooting the point.

Sephiroth roared, his left arm going limp.

Astrid blinked, "Wow… that worked."

'Of course it did! Now, go around to the other side and shoot just where the wing connects to the body.'

"You know, this is really annoying," She said, gliding around to the other side, "It sucks that my 'voice of reason' has morphed into the voice of Rufus Shinra… how am I supposed to pretend that everything is better if you're there talking to me?"

'…Just stop questioning and shoot.'

She raised her gun, doing just that.

Sephiroth roared and his wing fell limp, body sagging under its weight.

'Now, there's one last spot that might work—'

"Actually, Rufus, I'd like to try something on my own, if you don't mind." She raised her gun and aimed it at her sword, aiming steadily and pulling the trigger slightly.

'Wait! If you do that, you'll loose your only other weapon! That gun becomes useless after this shot!'

"Fine by me." Astrid said, still focusing on the one point, "Because there's a certain someone who wants to join the party." She squeezed the trigger, crying "Bahamut ZERO!" as the gun fired.

The bullet flew forward, aim true, and slammed into the pommel of her sword, shattering the grip and cracking the cross-guard so badly it broke off, leaving nothing but the blade. What was visible of the sword slid all the way into Sephiroth's body, but not before Astrid saw the metal flash the same metallic black from before; it had worked.

There was a roar from above and they all looked up, the great silhouette of Bahamut ZERO high above them. There was a pinpoint of light at the head of the silhouette, which quickly grew larger and larger. Then, a white beam of light rained down on Sephiroth, scalding his skin until it boiled and blistered off in several areas and completely blowing off his lip left arm.

Astrid sat back as Bahamut ZERO disappeared, her energy spent.

'Well, that's all I can do for this battle…' She sat back and watched as Tifa and Cloud joined forces, pummeling away at the burned, dismembered Sephiroth. After a while, her eyes closed and she dozed…

"ASTRID! IT'S TIME!"

Astrid's eyes snapped open and she stared at the battlefield, wincing at the state Sephiroth was in. Tifa and Cloud looked exhausted, but confident. Borrowing from this strength, Astrid shot forward and reached into the hole on Sephiroth where her sword had been buried, hand grasping the blunted metal at the end of the blade. Bracing her feet against Sephiroth's back, she pulled with all of her strength, the sword slowly emerging from the things flesh until it was free.

Destroyed sword in hand, Astrid flew over to Cloud and Tifa, hovering alongside them and smiling, "Well then, shall we?"

They looked at her and nodded, and together they lunged forward, all three attacks combining and slamming into Sephiroth.

It proved too much for the creature, for he began to break apart, disappearing into puffs of smoke and ash. Soon, all of him was gone, only the core of the Planet remaining.

Cloud turned to Tifa and Astrid and nodded, smiling tiredly, "Let's go."

And they left the battleground, never looking back.


	53. Gaea Aegis

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Gaea Aegis)

Gathered back at the mouth of the final crater, the party lay back and waited… for a sign… for something… for anything.

"This was all we could do." Cloud said, standing at the lip of the crater and looking down at the core, "What we could do… we did it."

"What about the Planet?" Barret asked, frowning, "Meteor didn't stop… so what about Holy? What do we do?"

Cloud shook his head, "I'd imagine… that that's up for the Planet to decide."

"Holy was already summoned, long before this." Astrid mumbled, sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall tiredly, her eyes closed, "It was always there, but it was being held back by Sephiroth. Now that he is gone, it should theoretically act on its own. Seeing as we're not Centra, we have no influence there."

Tifa looked between Cloud and Astrid, shaking her head, "You two are right, I suppose… We've done all we can do."

Blinking and turning away from the core, Cloud faced the party and nodded, "Alright, everyone. It's no use thinking about it. We'll leave all of our worries here." He raised a hand and clenched it, smiling, "Let's go home proud."

A thought struck Astrid as everyone began to file out. She stood wearily and looked at Cloud, shaking her head, "Not yet, Cloud."

He looked at her, frowning.

Astrid shook her head again, "You're not done with him yet." She watched him fall to the ground and start to mumble gibberish, Tifa falling at his side and holding him. Astrid felt bile raise in the back of her throat. 'Why… why did I know this was going to happen?'

'You're the author, remember?' She answered herself, blinking, 'Now that you've come into such close contact with the Book, it's not entirely surprising that you're seeing these things.'

"Astrid!" Tifa cried, looking to her, "What's going on?! What's wrong with Cloud?!"

Astrid sighed and shook her head, "He's facing his final demon." She nodded to Tifa, "Stay with him." She then turned and followed the others, leaving Tifa calling her name. 'Sorry, Tifa, but you're all he needs right now.'

Walking a ways down the tunnel, she joined with the rest of the party, smiling serenely.

"Let's go to the Highwind, shall we?"

They looked at her in confusion, Cid grumbling, "What about Tifa and Cloud?"

Astrid shook her head, "We'll let them have their moment. Now, onward, if you please."

They walked back down the tunnels to the Highwind, stopping suddenly when the ground shook out from underneath their feet.

"Wha's going on?!" Barret roared, falling to his knees.

"It's starting!" Astrid shouted, bracing herself against the wall, "Meteorfall! Come on! Back to the Highwind! Tifa and Cloud will be around soon!"

They ran up, stopping when they came to a clearing and saw Tifa and Cloud sitting across a gorge, looking down into a pool of mako.

"Hey!" Tifa waved, "Good to see you all okay!"

Astrid rolled her eyes and shouted, "This is hardly the time to be having a sit-down! Get up and let's—" She was cut off by a roar from above, and they all looked up and watched as the Highwind crashed into the crater.

It screeched to a stop by them, at which point Cid shouted, "Everyone, on! Now!"

They all jumped and grabbed on, holding on for dear life as a spout of mako shot up from underneath them and slammed into the belly of the Highwind, launching them into the air.

"SHIIIIIIIIT!!" Cid shouted, everyone turning to him as he reached for something in front of himself, pulling down hard.

The Highwind shuddered and transformed again, growing wings and smoothing out. It then shot forward, exiting the mako stream and flying over Gaia.

Astrid screamed as the incredible speed of the Highwind made her ears pop painfully. Then, as suddenly as the flight started, it stopped, the Highwind hovering over the ocean just south of Junon.

As soon as the party regained the use of their legs, they all jumped to their feet and looked to the sky, wincing when the atmosphere rippled like water and a vicious red light spread all over the sky, Meteor finally entering the final stages.

"Come on…" Astrid muttered, searching the horizon, "Holy… come on… do something!"

Meteor descended, falling quickly onto Midgar.

"Do something! Holy!"

Then it came. A white stream of magic shot across the sky, coming to a stop above Midgar and fanning out, a giant net ready to catch Meteor.

Meteor touched down, flames bursting up around it.

"Come on!" Cid shouted, "Let's get inside before the heat wave hits!"

On the bridge, everyone gathered at the window and watched the spectacle, one fact becoming increasingly clear.

"Holy… can't stop Meteor." Astrid muttered, watching as the Holy magic changed from white to pink, and from pink to red. "It came too late… Meteor's built up too much momentum."

She listened to the others talk, her mind working as they spoke of the inevitable.

'There is one thing… that might work.' The thought hit her, but she didn't say anything, watching as Holy continued to wane.

"What the hell IS that?!" She heard Cid shout, and she looked to the horizon, smiling at what she saw.

"…Lifestream." She heard Cloud mumble.

Three great tendrils of Lifestream gathered and melded together, curving and undulating their way towards Meteor and Midgar. As they moved, three more tendrils rose up and joined the first three, the wave growing.

Above the Highwind, millions of thinner tendrils gathered, forming a giant net over the Planet.

As each part of the Lifestream swooped down towards Meteor and Midgar, there was a blinding flash of light that forced everyone to close there eyes.

Astrid closed her eyes slowly, a smile forming on her lips and her head leaning against the glass as the cool wave of air from the Lifestream brushed into the Highwind, knocking it around.

For a moment in time, everything was lost in white.

Then, it was over. The light was gone. When they looked again, Meteor was gone. Midgar still existed.

The Planet… was saved.


	54. Parting Ways

Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Parting Ways)

"In the end, when we alone weren't enough, the Planet decided to intercept." Astrid stopped and smiled, looking at the ground beneath her feet, "Gaia saved us… for working so hard to save her." She looked to the party standing before her and nodded, "That… was her thanks. Her thanks to us and everyone who believed in her in the end, and even those who didn't. Even if we mistreat her, Gaia still loves us."

The party nodded, still not completely understanding.

"So… what now?" Barret asked, scratching the back of his head.

Astrid shrugged, "The journey's over. I assume that we all return to our normal lives and move on… while doing the best we can to do what's right for Gaia, this time. We've been given a second chance to make things better, and I'm pretty sure after that display that the people will do whatever they can to help out."

"Home…" Yuffie sighed and shook her head, "Man, it's good to hear that." She then straightened and smiled brightly, turning and starting to walk off, "Well, bye everyo—"

"Yuffie." They all said, glaring at her, "Give back the materia."

The ninja stopped in place, turning to smile at them nervously, "Hehehe… heh." She then tore out a pouch and threw it at them, laughing maniacally and running off, "Bye-bye, you meanies!"

Tifa picked up the pouch and looked inside, sighing when she saw all of the marble-sized balls of glowing materia. "Looks like it's all here."

"I'll take that." Cloud said, taking the pouch and shoving it into his pocket, "This kind of power shouldn't be available to the people of Gaia. It's best if it's kept in one location…"

"And with someone we know won't use it." Cait Sith finished, nodding.

Falling silent, they looked at the planet around them, smiling at everything they saw. Then, slowly, they began to drift apart.

"We still have our PHS's, though!" Tifa shouted, "Let's all get back together some time!"

"Astrid! Wait!" She stopped and turned to Cait Sith, who ran up to her and looked at her in confusion, "Were are you going?! You don't…" He trailed off, shuffling his feet nervously.

"Have anywhere to go?" She finished, smirking and shrugging, "Yeah, I know, and that's okay. I don't feel like settling down, anyway. I kinda feel like…" She looked around and shrugged, smiling, "Wandering Gaia."

Cait Sith nodded, his voice dropping to Reeve's, "Well, if you ever need a place to go, just find me."

"Thanks, Reeve." She smiled and nodded.

"Or you could come to Rocket Town!" Cid shouted, turning and walking backwards to throw her a grin.

"Or come to AVALANCHE!" Barret shouted, waving from his spot by Tifa and Cloud. "We could always use more recruits!"

"Cosmo Canyon will always welcome you!" Red XIII shouted.

"Hmm… the Shinra mansion has been vacant for several years…" Vincent said, not shouting but still being heard.

Then, Astrid's PHS rang and she answered it, wincing when Yuffie squealed, "You should come to Wutai, big sister! We'd have lots of fun!"

Astrid laughed and shook her head, looking at everyone and holding out her phone, "Thanks, all. I think I'll take you up on you offers at one point or another, so be warned."

Over with Tifa, Cloud and Barret, Tifa looked at Cloud and tilted her head, "Cloud… do you suppose it would be okay to trust Astrid with a few materia? It's still dangerous to walk around Gaia unprepared, and her sword did shatter…"

Cloud sighed and shook his head, "I suppose if we don't give her something, she'll end up killing herself, won't she?" He took out the pouch and dug around for a moment, taking our four materia and looking up, "Hey, Astrid!" When she looked at him, he threw the materia, "Here!"

Astrid caught the materia and looked down at them, feeling them individually. 'Restore… Ice… Shiva… B…' She stared at the last one, blinking. She then looked up at Cloud and held up the last materia, "You sure about this one? This is a bit… powerful, isn't it?"

Cloud shook his head, "I have never heard of a materia answering to a summoning the way Bahamut ZERO did to you… You earned it!"

Astrid smiled and nodded to Cloud, "Thanks, leader!"

Settled and satisfied, they all continued to drift away.

Astrid stood where she was and watched them go, smiling to herself. Then, a thought hit her and she turned to where Vincent was walking, running after him.

"Big brother! Wait!"

Vincent stopped and turned, looking at her with a raised brow, "Must you insist upon calling me that?"

She caught up with him and smirked, shrugging, "I just remembered that I left someone back in Nibelheim. Mind if I take you up on your offer now and join you?"

Vincent shrugged, "If you wish."

They set off for Nibelheim, Astrid smiling to herself. 'Dark Nation and I… we're the only ones left who really cared about Rufus Shinra. And hearing his voice all of those times makes me question of he's really dead… So I'll start looking, and keep looking, no matter how long it takes.

'Because Gaia is my home now. It's as simple as that. And, if I'm going to last here, I'm going to have to do what I can to make myself fit in. A while on the road, looking for him, meeting new people, doing new things… I'll learn to be as Gaian as possible.

'Marcus may be gone, but I'm going to do what he would have wanted me to do. I'll adapt.'

It's time to let life start anew. It's time to start over.

* * *

Rayna Lissesul: ...Yep, I went there. Heh, even if you didn't like it, there are no regrets on my behalf. I am sorry, though, if i screwed up any in-game details. Other than that, though... I'm satisfied.


	55. Any Questions?

So… that's it. Actually, no, that's not quite right.

I am sure (kinda) that there may have been a few things that confused some people, so if you have any questions send 'em over and I'll answer them as best I can.

Also, I'd love some reactions, input, constructive criticism, the like. Doesn't necessarily have to happen, but it's always nice.


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